Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $2.15 Million Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. by 17.1%, selling 1,444 shares and retaining 7,007 shares valued at approximately $2.15 million.
• Essex Property Trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for its latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.99, with a total revenue of $465.84 million.
• The stock currently holds a market cap of $17.42 billion, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $301.42.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,444 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $10,519,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,342 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 801,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,398,000 after purchasing an additional 24,936 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $374,000. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESS. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $279.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Tuesday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $300.44.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $261.91. The company had a trading volume of 207,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,893. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.96. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 6.95 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Profile

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.