Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,161 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth 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 period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.16.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $2.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $305.93. 574,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 361,732. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $293.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 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.