Barclays PLC Cuts Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Barclays PLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,769 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 37,425 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.18% of Essex Property Trust worth $33,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,955,205,000 after buying an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $500,688,000 after buying an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 worth $220,612,000 after acquiring an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value 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 approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

ESS traded up $2.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $279.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 109,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,299. The stock has a market cap of $17.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $290.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $239.37 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

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.