KCM Investment Advisors LLC Has $362,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 15.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after buying an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 34.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after buying an additional 140,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $301.79 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.04. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 1.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $302.05.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% 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.