Brokerages Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Target Price at $297.00

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $297.00.

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763 in the last ninety days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE ESS opened at $301.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $297.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.90. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $218.59 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.