Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,691 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $500,688,000 after acquiring an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 957,038 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $273,173,000 after purchasing an additional 18,778 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ESS traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $275.50. 241,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,661. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $240.58 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $290.39 and a 200-day moving average of $291.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

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.