Pathstone Holdings LLC Purchases 127 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $84,393,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 205.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 371.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 144,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,721,000 after acquiring an additional 113,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $312.86 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $210.36 and a 1 year high of $317.73. 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’s 50-day moving average is $297.03 and its 200 day moving average is $286.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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

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.