Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Sells 673 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 673 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $292.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $289.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.64.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.