Golden State Equity Partners Acquires New Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in 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 grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings 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 owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ESS opened at $294.02 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $298.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.64 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 EPS. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 121.29%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.