JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 73,602 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 439,551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 73,602 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.68% of Essex Property Trust worth $125,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position 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 worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $22.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $271.80. The company had a trading volume of 686,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,375. The stock has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $296.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

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.