Cwm LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cwm LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 386 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 55.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $13,513,000. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 26,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after buying an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 116.6% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $296.50 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $296.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

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 value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.