Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 967,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,547 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.55% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $30,251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,033,209 shares of the company's stock worth $345,535,000 after acquiring an additional 96,615 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,468,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,642,000 after purchasing an additional 118,927 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,948,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,246,000 after purchasing an additional 469,610 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,872,955 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,866,000 after buying an additional 43,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth $83,341,000. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EPRT shares. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. B. Riley cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,998,932.15. This trade represents a 12.06 % 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 link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE EPRT traded up $0.72 on Friday, reaching $30.75. 1,610,034 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,400,527. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.72 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.58 and a 200 day moving average of $32.18.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc, a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis.