Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC Sells 35,639 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 35,639 shares during the quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $21,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,456,000. Centiva Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 61.7% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 10,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Adelante Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 498.5% during the 3rd quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 27,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,079,000 after buying an additional 22,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1,306.5% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 22,898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,765,000 after acquiring an additional 21,270 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $303.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.59 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.56.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.