Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 51,565 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 310,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 51,565 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.48% of Essex Property Trust worth $91,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $743,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 54.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 74.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One 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.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $300.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.59. 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 one year low of $222.30 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

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.