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

Nuveen Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 148,229 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $85,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 541,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,635,000 after purchasing an additional 97,350 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $19,422,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 54,681 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,608,000 after purchasing an additional 18,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.1%

ESS stock opened at $288.59 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $284.62 and a 200-day moving average of $289.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

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.