Insider Selling: Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CEO Sells 12,132 Shares of Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) CEO Michael J. Schall sold 12,132 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.19, for a total value of $4,236,373.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $5.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $348.72. 306,766 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 338,716. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $271.51 and a 12 month high of $359.49. The firm has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a PE ratio of 47.50, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $330.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $335.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($1.14). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 33.91% and a return on equity of 6.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 13.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 31st will be given a $2.20 dividend. This represents a $8.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 111.32%.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,686,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,355,194,000 after purchasing an additional 242,033 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.9% during the third quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,535,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,769,943,000 after purchasing an additional 450,710 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,902,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,736,904,000 after purchasing an additional 224,989 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,825,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $993,858,000 after purchasing an additional 19,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $721,012,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $378.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $367.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $351.00 to $335.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $363.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $353.06.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile (Get Rating)

Essex Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities. The company was founded by George M. Marcus in 1971 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA.

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