Farther Finance Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 36.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $210,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $290.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.58. The firm has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.90 and a 52 week 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.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.