Virtu Financial LLC Grows Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 25.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 737 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after buying an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 237.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 54.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 74.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $299.91 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.06 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.59.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.49%.

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.