JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $151.60 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 513,153 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 420,197 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.80% of Essex Property Trust worth $151,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $22,109,000 after acquiring an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 54.2% during the 3rd 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 period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ESS traded up $2.64 on Wednesday, reaching $285.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 339,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,262. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $296.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.69. The firm has a market cap of $18.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

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.