Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 317,663 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 684,106 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 317,663 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 1.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $202,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 578 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 147.9% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,164 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 937 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ESS stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 213,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,829. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $297.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.35. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $210.36 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.00.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $730,627.59. This represents a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.