Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Position Reduced by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp cut its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $301.55 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $288.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.60. The company has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS 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%. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company 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.