Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stake Boosted by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in 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 shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,682,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after buying an additional 12,822 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,185,000 after buying an additional 23,673 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 741,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $201,715,000 after acquiring an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $309.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $297.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $210.36 and a fifty-two week 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The business 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 company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. This represents a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.