TD Asset Management Inc Has $5.98 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $285.95.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $308.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $308.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $286.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.41. The company has a market cap of $19.79 billion, a PE ratio of 37.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 119.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,233 shares of company stock worth $4,533,461. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.