Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Position Increased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 934.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,344 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 6,634 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in 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. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ESS traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $292.78. 350,472 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 357,958. The firm has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.64. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock worth $5,840,299. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.