Creative Planning Buys 120 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after acquiring an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth about $98,594,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 34.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,348,000 after acquiring an additional 140,294 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank increased 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 research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $299.67 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.64 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $298.05 and its 200 day moving average is $278.45. 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 company has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.29%.

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.