Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CFO Sells $1,988,843.22 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $301.55. The stock had a trading volume of 554,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,204. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $288.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

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

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Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake 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 period. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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.