Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 38.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,368 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 219.9% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 100,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,871,000 after purchasing an additional 68,951 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $291.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho raised Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $242.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $252.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $237.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.38. The stock has a market cap of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of 38.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

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.