Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Kera Capital Partners Inc.

Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 19.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,925,000 after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,835,000 after purchasing an additional 185,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $36,450,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $278.07 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $281.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. Truist Financial raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank raised their price target on 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $312.17.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 valued at $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

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.