Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,466 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $13,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 645.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Raymond James raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $227.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho raised Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $248.02 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $252.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $239.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.16. The company has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

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 issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 155.31%.

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.