Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 957,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 18,778 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.49% of Essex Property Trust worth $273,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,955,205,000 after purchasing an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $500,688,000 after buying an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $220,612,000 after acquiring an additional 18,704 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 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 sale, the director now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

ESS traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $276.90. The stock had a trading volume of 360,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,296. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $240.58 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 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%. On average, research analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.11.

About Essex Property Trust

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.