Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 222,713 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 64.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $162,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE ESS opened at $292.85 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $288.66 and its 200 day moving average is $290.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.79.

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.