Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped 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. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

ESS opened at $312.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $210.36 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $297.03 and a 200-day moving average of $286.47.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 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 business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.