Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $675,183,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,185,000 after purchasing an additional 23,673 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $271.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $294.62 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $298.19. The firm has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $281.00 and a 200-day moving average of $259.05.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.