Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,420 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 11,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 6,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $294.02 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $298.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.64 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 EPS. 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 business 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 121.29%.

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.