Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 876 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 68.4% in the second quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $215,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth about $572,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $276.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock opened at $301.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.49. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.86. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $302.05.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.