Employees Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 112.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $709,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 2,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 5,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $11,675,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $271.80 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.07.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Essex Property Trust 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.