Swedbank AB Sells 371 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Swedbank AB lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position 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 worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,636,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank lifted 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.0 %

ESS opened at $312.86 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $210.36 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.