Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 112.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $283.85. 820,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 410,778. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a PEG 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 fifty day moving average is $280.57 and its 200 day moving average is $288.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

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.