Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,354 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,027,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 315.3% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $312.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.6%

ESS traded up $1.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $283.85. 820,599 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 410,463. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.78. The firm has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm 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 company earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

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.