Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,670 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $83,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $1,160,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 74.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $304.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.