Whittier Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.0% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $283,000. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.9% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $109,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ESS traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $296.57. 92,086 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,904. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $281.45 and its 200-day moving average is $259.77. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $298.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.70.

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.