Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Acquired by Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,145,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $311,824,000 after buying an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $272,682,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after buying an additional 12,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,185,000 after buying an additional 23,673 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the company’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 value of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $295.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.29%.

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.