MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $84,393,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,838,000 after acquiring an additional 136,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ESS. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price 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 research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’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 transaction of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 in the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $310.46 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.35 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced 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). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.