Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Acquired by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $488,601,000 after acquiring an additional 22,835 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 301,349 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,157,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $309,848,000 after acquiring an additional 100,730 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 950,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $248,792,000 after acquiring an additional 29,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 929,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $248,703,000 after acquiring an additional 5,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ESS. UBS Group increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $293.00 target price on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.44.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $284.59 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $264.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $294.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The firm had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share 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 issued a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.40%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.