Atria Investments Inc Has $882,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Atria Investments Inc trimmed its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 16.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,093,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $743,000. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $532,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $4,299,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.68 and a 200-day moving average of $283.83. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $209.17 and a one year 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 results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

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.