Amal M. Johnson Sells 7,298 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ESS traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $312.42. 357,637 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,497. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $20.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $244,269,000 after acquiring an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $98,594,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.10.

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.