Is Essex Property Trust Inc (ESS) A Good Stock To Buy?

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We at Insider Monkey have gone over 742 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS) based on that data.

Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. ESS was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with ESS holdings at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE), and NetEase, Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES) to gather more data points.

Follow Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

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Now, we’re going to take a gander at the fresh action regarding Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS).

How are hedge funds trading Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -21% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

HedgeFundSentimentChart

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Long Pond Capital, managed by John Khoury, holds the biggest position in Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS). Long Pond Capital has a $213.7 million position in the stock, comprising 10% of its 13F portfolio. On Long Pond Capital’s heels is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $26.1 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish include Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

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