3,643 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $953,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $1,664,000. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $223,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 186.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after buying an additional 21,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,345,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $296.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.62.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $274.11 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.72. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $294.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.08.

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). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.The business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. During the same quarter 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. Analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current 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 paid a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 116.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

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.