Guggenheim Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Guggenheim Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 95.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,146 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 48,119 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Assetmark Inc. grew its position 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $7,027,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $277.70. The stock had a trading volume of 510,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,748. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.00. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $240.58 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. 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 (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 for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % 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 in the last quarter. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.