Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 14,562 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during Q1, holding approximately $112.88 million in shares after selling 14,562 shares.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Essex Property Trust, including Vanguard Group, which boosted its investment by 0.8% last quarter.
• Essex Property Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, representing a 3.8% yield, with a payout ratio of 82.64%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 368,207 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 14,562 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Essex Property Trust worth $112,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 26,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,061,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 55,866 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,127,000 after buying an additional 8,205 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 821,968 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $251,991,000 after buying an additional 304,936 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 17,602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,396,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 81,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,124,000 after buying an additional 15,456 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.66.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS traded down $2.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $264.43. The stock had a trading volume of 607,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,035. The business has a 50-day moving average of $270.15 and a 200-day moving average of $280.00. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a PEG ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 82.64%.

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.