Boston Partners Boosts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,775 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 36,451 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.95% of Essex Property Trust worth $173,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $508,381,000 after buying an additional 25,591 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $300.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 849,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,809. The business's 50 day moving average is $292.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.60. 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. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.