Allianz SE Takes $306,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $22.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $271.80. The stock had a trading volume of 686,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,494. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's fifty day moving average is $296.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.