Pathstone Holdings LLC Acquires 127 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in 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. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $312.86 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.47. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $210.36 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related 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 value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, 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 a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.