Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 13,212 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,212 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Essex Property Trust worth $12,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 237,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,079,000 after acquiring an additional 9,743 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 163.0% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 20,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,030,000 after acquiring an additional 12,650 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $721,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $300.59 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.68. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $210.36 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust 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.