Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 27.6% in Q1, now holding approximately 32,724 shares, valued at $10.03 million.
• Essex Property Trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing expectations of $3.99, and set Q3 2025 guidance between $3.890 and $3.990 EPS.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, representing a 3.8% yield.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 27.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 12,478 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,274 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,200,675,000 after purchasing an additional 87,117 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,746,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $841,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,619 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $384,606,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,247,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $382,334,000 after purchasing an additional 119,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 854,606 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $261,205,000 after purchasing an additional 52,793 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.6%

ESS stock traded down $1.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $267.23. The stock had a trading volume of 244,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,983. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.87.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ESS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $279.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten 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 an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $298.41.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.