abrdn plc Increases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

abrdn plc raised its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $41,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 116.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 5,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 508.4% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 11,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 9,431 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $294.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.64 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 121.29%.

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.