Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. 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 objective for the company. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $299.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $298.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.