Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stake Decreased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,830 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $15,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 34.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,348,000 after purchasing an additional 140,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 326.3% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,199,000 after purchasing an additional 113,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE ESS opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of 36.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.57.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The company 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 period last year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was 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 owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wedbush increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

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.