MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 441 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.5% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $310.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.27, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $297.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.35 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

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.