Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Acquires 73 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. 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. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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 raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $300.63 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $290.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase 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.