Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Czech National Bank grew its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,080 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,145,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,824,000 after acquiring an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after purchasing an additional 12,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,185,000 after purchasing an additional 23,673 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $288.08 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $294.82 and a 200-day moving average of $273.43.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 121.29%.

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.