California Public Employees Retirement System Has $53.49 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.29% of Essex Property Trust worth $53,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $471,258,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,835,000 after purchasing an additional 185,958 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,443,000 after purchasing an additional 150,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm's 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS traded down $22.56 on Friday, reaching $271.80. The company had a trading volume of 686,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,375. The company has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a PEG 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average of $294.07. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

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.