Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,550,000 after buying an additional 15,087 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $575,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 99.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $974,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $3.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $278.60. 731,058 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,772. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $289.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $240.58 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

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.