Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 1,930 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 59.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,930 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $5.80 on Wednesday, hitting $282.17. The company had a trading volume of 48,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,741. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $239.37 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $290.82 and a 200-day moving average of $291.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.