Insider Selling: Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CEO Sells $2,546,008.00 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.0 %

ESS opened at $306.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $292.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after acquiring an additional 462,828 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $98,594,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.10.

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.