Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $9.75 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $9,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loudon Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Loudon Investment Management LLC now owns 15,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,922,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESS. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.70.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS stock traded up $1.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $298.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 320,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,271. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $281.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.77. The company has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $299.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 1.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.