GSA Capital Partners LLP Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,398 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $301.76. The company had a trading volume of 328,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,049. The business has a 50 day moving average of $297.68 and a 200 day moving average of $283.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.17 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their position. 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.