OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Has $6.03 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 163.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,650 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during 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 buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $304.14 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.47 and its 200 day moving average is $281.84. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $204.64 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.22%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio 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.