Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 2,390 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents 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 valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $300.06 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.66.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust 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.