Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,750 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.08% of Essex Property Trust worth $14,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted 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, March 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Essex Property Trust stock traded up $3.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $275.37. The stock had a trading volume of 361,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,703. The company has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, 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. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $235.40 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.50.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.