PGGM Investments Sells 351,180 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

PGGM Investments cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 96.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 351,180 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 112.3% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 30,700.0% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 15,050.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $266.75.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $284.88. The company had a trading volume of 59,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,751. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.76. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $292.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

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

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.