Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $11.70 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 112.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 21,700 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $500,688,000 after buying an additional 32,102 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after acquiring an additional 404,892 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $3.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $281.90. The company had a trading volume of 416,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,285. 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's 50 day moving average price is $281.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.18. The stock has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Barclays raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.