Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 669,314 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,792 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned approximately 1.04% of Essex Property Trust worth $191,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESS. Evercore ISI raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $2.76 on Wednesday, hitting $292.78. 350,472 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 358,002. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.64. The company has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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.