Vest Financial LLC Decreases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 169,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,977 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $50,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.8 %

ESS stock traded up $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $296.50. 198,747 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 380,199. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.