Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $392,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $1,160,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $645,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

ESS opened at $304.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $210.36 and a 12 month high of $317.73. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $297.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.82.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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 $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.00.

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.