1,673 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Purchased by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $1,837,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 13.1% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.0% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 54,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,755,000 after acquiring an additional 7,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 18.4% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,939,000 after acquiring an additional 28,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $315.15 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $316.12. The stock has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.75.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.