Assetmark Inc. Has $30,000 Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $743,000. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $532,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $4,299,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock opened at $301.58 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $209.17 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $297.59 and its 200-day moving average is $284.57.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued 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 3.25%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. This represents a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

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.