B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% during the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of 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, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ESS opened at $305.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $210.36 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.88.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

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.