Bleakley Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 55.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 116.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.2% during the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 4,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,027,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.7% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $299.96 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.09. The firm has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm posted $3.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

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.