Toronto Dominion Bank Purchases 2,574 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,354 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,574 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,955,205,000 after acquiring an additional 61,645 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $500,688,000 after buying an additional 32,102 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS traded down $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $269.80. 411,901 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,667. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. 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 company has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $283.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.67.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.78.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.