Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Sells 42,096 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC reduced its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,924 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 42,096 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Essex Property Trust worth $39,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,443,000 after acquiring an additional 150,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 205.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $59,838,000 after acquiring an additional 136,240 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $301.55. The stock had a trading volume of 554,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,266. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $288.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.51. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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 for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. 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 payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299 in the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.