Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 114.0% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,697 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 146.9% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 16,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 14,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Managers LLC. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the first quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 13,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,094,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $279.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $278.13 and a 200 day moving average of $288.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESS. Barclays lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $355.00 target price (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

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.