Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 68 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after purchasing an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $84,393,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % 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 worth $6,399,663. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

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

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.