Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Stock Position Trimmed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 475,507 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 49,953 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Essex Property Trust worth $124,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $293.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $287.03.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $281.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $262.79 and its 200-day moving average is $257.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $238.46 and a 12-month high of $294.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). The business had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.