Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Holdings Cut by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 purchasing an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $272,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.4% during 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 holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $307.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $297.48 and its 200-day moving average is $282.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $209.17 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.90, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

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.