Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 2,574 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned about 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,550,000 after buying an additional 15,087 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $287.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $284.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.