Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Sells 240 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. reduced its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 19.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.3% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15,050.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $284.46. 183,831 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 382,842. The company has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $292.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $277.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESS. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.75.

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.