Aurora Investment Managers LLC. Sells 11,344 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Aurora Investment Managers cut its Essex Property Trust stake by 83.8% in the second quarter, selling 11,344 shares and retaining 2,189 shares valued at approximately $638,000.
• Institutional investors own 96.51% of Essex Property Trust, while several major funds—including Norges Bank and Principal Financial Group—expanded their positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $303.99 target price; the REIT recently paid a quarterly dividend of $2.59, representing a 3.6% annualized yield.

Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lowered its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 83.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 11,344 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,533 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $66,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $230,690,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $143,405,000 after buying an additional 31,261 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $439,520,000 after buying an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,122 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,901,000 after buying an additional 36,293 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $303.99.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $287.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $303.35. The company has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.76, a P/E/G ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.69.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $2.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 161.12%.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc NYSE: ESS is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.

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