Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 162.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,354 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $22,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during 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 buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $301.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.93. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.17 and a 12 month high of $317.73. 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 quarterly earnings data 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). 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.