Jump Financial LLC Sells 25,391 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Jump Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 71.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 25,391 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th 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. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $275.37 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $291.83 and a 200-day moving average of $291.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust 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.