Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 59 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 28,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,235,000 after acquiring an additional 3,151 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.9 %

ESS stock opened at $300.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $290.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.60. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.