Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Loudon Investment Management LLC

Loudon Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for about 2.3% of Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after buying an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third 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. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the fourth 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 increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third 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. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Mizuho cut 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ESS opened at $302.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.67. 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 one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.