Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 59 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during 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. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $300.63 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.60. The company has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. 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 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.