MQS Management LLC Sells 2,281 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

MQS Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 72.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,281 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust makes up about 7.1% of MQS Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $301.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $288.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.60. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share 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%. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust 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.