Sei Investments Co. Sells 16,626 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sei Investments Co. reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,626 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $73,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position 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 worth $44,000 after buying 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 worth about $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ESS opened at $300.06 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ESS. Truist Financial boosted 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 report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.