State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 19,004 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,004 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 34.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after purchasing an additional 140,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $314.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $288.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $314.31.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.