Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Raised to $328.00 at Barclays

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Barclays from $303.00 to $328.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Barclays's target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.06% from the company's current price.

ESS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $282.62. The company had a trading volume of 214,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,633. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $286.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.27. The company has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $137,406,000 after purchasing an additional 446,946 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,925,000 after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.