Legal & General Group Plc Sells 144,675 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 915,885 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 144,675 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.43% of Essex Property Trust worth $261,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during 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 last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Remove Ads

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded up $7.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $270.50. The company had a trading volume of 89,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,871. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $293.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G 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.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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%. On average, 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 business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Barclays dropped their price target 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.11.

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.