Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.77 Billion Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,343,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 149,882 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 16.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $2,768,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,540,570,000 after purchasing an additional 129,806 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,825,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $515,226,000 after buying an additional 23,565 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 48.3% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $299,522,000 after buying an additional 344,287 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 28.3% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 860,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $243,910,000 after buying an additional 189,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the second quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 848,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $240,501,000 after acquiring an additional 26,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $256.10 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.25 and a 12-month high of $316.29. The company has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.96 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $255.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.92 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 98.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price target on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 target price (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.