California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 2,732 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,732 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $53,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 74.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,238 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,320,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders 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 NYSE ESS opened at $305.57 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $295.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. 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 boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

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.