The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,764 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 605 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $12,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% during the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Quilter Plc increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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 approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

ESS opened at $289.62 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $294.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.