Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 170 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $301,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Quilter Plc boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 48.69 % 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 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $302.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $297.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $209.17 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a PEG ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted 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). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust 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.