Cohen & Steers Inc. Sells 465,686 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Cohen & Steers Inc. cut its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,999,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 465,686 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for 2.8% of Cohen & Steers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned about 9.32% of Essex Property Trust worth $1,570,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 22,835 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.5% in 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 buying an additional 100,730 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% in 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 buying an additional 29,466 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,637 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $245,627,000 after buying an additional 9,450 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.44.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE ESS opened at $283.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.72. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $294.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $266.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

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 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 firm had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 116.40%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.