QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,130 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,130 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $471,258,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $137,406,000 after buying an additional 446,946 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after buying an additional 404,892 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,925,000 after acquiring an additional 222,713 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,835,000 after acquiring an additional 185,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $284.66 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $280.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $286.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 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 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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