National Bank of Canada FI Sells 2,644 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,644 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $275,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $1,456,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 48.7% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 2,138 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 38,718 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,438,000 after buying an additional 10,426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $11.96 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $260.00. 137,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 479,953. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $294.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.68. The firm has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.