Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $84,393,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % 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 worth $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.76 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.30. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.17 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given 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 3.25%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

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.