Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 97,350 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

11 May 2025, 08:43 by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat Gem

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS – Free Report) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 541,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 97,350 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $154,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.11.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $282.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.36. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 98.37%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.