Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,214 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings 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 worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position 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 worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $4.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $266.78. The company had a trading volume of 60,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,210. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.72. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

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, topping 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%. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. 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 payout ratio is 89.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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 report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.80% 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.