Fmr LLC Has $255.33 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Fmr LLC cut its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 864,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 95,953 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $255,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $743,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $4,299,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in 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 last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 237.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $310.46 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $211.35 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly 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 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. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.