Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Mary Kasaris Sells 2,800 Shares

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $288.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.