Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $1.24 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,145,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,824,000 after acquiring an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $272,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $256,280,000 after acquiring an additional 12,822 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ESS opened at $306.21 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $292.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.10.

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.