Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 132,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $36,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,233 shares of company stock valued at $4,533,461. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

ESS opened at $298.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $284.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.95. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $307.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.25.

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.