Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 57.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,555 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,873,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $488,601,000 after purchasing an additional 22,835 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,157,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $309,848,000 after acquiring an additional 100,730 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 958,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $250,714,000 after purchasing an additional 228,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 950,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,792,000 after buying an additional 29,466 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essex Property Trust to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.08.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $295.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.96. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $295.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $18.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a PEG ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.72.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.12 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 116.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.