Virtu Financial LLC Trims Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 909 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,753 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased 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. One 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 Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $2.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $307.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 516,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,221. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $295.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.62. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

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.