Golden State Equity Partners Acquires New Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Golden State Equity Partners bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $403,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $66,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $294.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $298.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.64 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $3.77 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 121.29%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.