Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 2.07% of Essex Property Trust worth $392,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,160,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,881 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $645,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

ESS traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $305.46. The stock had a trading volume of 213,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,071. The company has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 35.68, a PEG ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $210.36 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.16.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.00.

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.