Heartland Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,422 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 1.1% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $19,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third 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 worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after buying an additional 150,927 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $24,823,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

ESS stock opened at $304.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.76. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.