Anne Morrison Sells 2,571 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 $730,627.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $312.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $291.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 107.9% during the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 43,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,723,000 after buying an additional 22,736 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,389,000 after buying an additional 5,887 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $743,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.