Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,069 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,907 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.33% of Essex Property Trust worth $60,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $305.79. 288,731 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,138. The company has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $294.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business'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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.80% 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.