AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 105 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 27,570 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during 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 buying an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after purchasing an additional 12,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,185,000 after purchasing an additional 23,673 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.0 %

ESS opened at $285.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.34. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Raymond James upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. This represents 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. Also, 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 value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% 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.