Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $717,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $268,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $227,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $135,837,000. EJMK Ventures LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $292.75 price target on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $303.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $296.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.79.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $284.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.21, a P/E/G ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.99. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $238.46 and a 1 year high of $303.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $2.62. The company had revenue of $489.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.12 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 21.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.03 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.930-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.030-16.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Profile

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.