Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 319,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 127,978 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $91,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $471,258,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,835,000 after purchasing an additional 185,958 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,443,000 after purchasing an additional 150,927 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $36,450,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $296.16 and a 200 day moving average of $294.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. 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 stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.