Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.68 and its 200-day moving average is $283.30. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $209.17 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 114.49%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 in the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.