Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 26,143 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 47.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 26,143 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research 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 stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $305.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.71. 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 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

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.