Angela L. Kleiman Sells 4,929 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $301.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $288.15 and its 200 day moving average is $294.40. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, 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 current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 355.4% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,495 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,992,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.4% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,703,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $358,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.