Forsta AP Fonden Increases Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 107.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 43,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,723,000 after buying an additional 22,736 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $743,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $298.43 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.64 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESS. Wedbush lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

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.