GAM Holding AG Takes $2.34 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,337,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2%

ESS stock opened at $284.66 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $280.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.64. The company has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

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.

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