ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 127,697 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 127,697 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $36,450,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned 0.20% of Essex Property Trust at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $1,939,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $164,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $500,688,000 after purchasing an additional 32,102 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,756,000 after buying an additional 17,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE ESS opened at $307.54 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $295.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.