Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 36 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,889 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 36.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $300.63 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $290.12 and a 200-day moving average of $294.60. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS 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 dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ESS shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

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.