Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 22,835 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,873,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,835 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $488,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $1,900,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 594,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $159,114,000 after buying an additional 22,378 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 473.5% in the third quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,315,000 after buying an additional 426,650 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 23,100.0% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.1% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 601,341 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $160,955,000 after buying an additional 12,446 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1%

ESS opened at $272.90 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $258.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.74. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $294.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 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 Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 116.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $284.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.