GAMMA Investing LLC Has $324,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the 1st 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. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after buying an additional 140,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $285.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $294.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.34.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

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.