Fmr LLC Sells 95,953 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Fmr LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 864,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 95,953 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 1.34% of Essex Property Trust worth $255,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. One investment 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, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $310.46 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $211.35 and a one year 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. The firm has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $297.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Essex Property Trust 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.