Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stake in Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) by 10.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,538 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Empire State Realty Trust were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 4.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,758,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,648,000 after purchasing an additional 171,056 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,406,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,756,000 after buying an additional 38,529 shares during the last quarter. Vision Capital Corp increased its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vision Capital Corp now owns 2,802,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,211 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 392.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,099,288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,180,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 848,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,959,000 after acquiring an additional 37,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ESRT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Empire State Realty Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Empire State Realty Trust from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Empire State Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire State Realty Trust

In other Empire State Realty Trust news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $101,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 86,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,750.70. This represents a 10.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Empire State Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESRT stock opened at $10.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.51. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41 and a beta of 1.40. Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.78 and a 12-month high of $11.62.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $199.60 million during the quarter. Empire State Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.73% and a net margin of 6.22%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Empire State Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.85%.

Empire State Realty Trust Profile

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT’s flagship Empire State Building – the “World’s Most Famous Building” – includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years.