HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 769 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 36.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $83,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 653.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 26,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,210,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ESS opened at $297.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.16. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.