Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Lowers Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $84,393,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after buying an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on 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. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 in the last ninety days. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $301.45 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $297.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.90. The company has a market capitalization of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.59 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.