Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,986 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.30% of Essex Property Trust worth $51,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Tobam boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 167.3% in the second quarter. Tobam now owns 131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. BNP Paribas lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.70.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $257.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.24. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.25 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.12%.

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.