Sei Investments Co. Has $85.87 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 315,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.49% of Essex Property Trust worth $85,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of ESS opened at $306.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $292.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.77 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.