6,856 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Purchased by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,856 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in 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. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $7.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $263.36. 223,722 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 390,739. The company has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.07. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several research reports. 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.