Penserra Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Penserra Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in 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 last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’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 value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 48.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

ESS opened at $312.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $210.36 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $297.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $286.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.