Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 2,035 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.5% in the third quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the third quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.0% during the third quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. now owns 2,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (down from $326.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Mizuho lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $286.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.52.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $272.08 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $303.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.45. The firm has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.69.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($2.49). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 6.24% and a net margin of 17.84%. The firm had revenue of $492.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $2.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 192.21%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on owning, operating, acquiring, developing and redeveloping apartment communities. Its portfolio serves renters in major coastal markets in Southern California, Northern California and the Seattle metropolitan area. Founded in 1971, the company became publicly traded in 1994. Essex’s primary business is providing rental housing, with property operations and development activities supporting its apartment portfolio.