Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 276 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Verition Fund Management LLC reduced its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 276 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $300.10 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.59. The company has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $222.30 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.