Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 2,427 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,761 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $508,381,000 after buying an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ESS stock traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $305.93. 574,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 361,732. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.61. The firm has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.16.

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.