Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 33,225 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 383,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,225 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.63% of ESAB worth $40,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in ESAB during the third quarter valued at approximately $15,110,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of ESAB during the second quarter valued at about $8,277,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of ESAB by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 749,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,706,000 after purchasing an additional 59,447 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ESAB in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,174,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in ESAB by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 466,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,595,000 after purchasing an additional 34,161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Trading Up 1.7 %

ESAB opened at $127.54 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.25. ESAB Co. has a 1-year low of $76.08 and a 1-year high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $673.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.50 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 17.27%. ESAB’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded ESAB from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital upped their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of ESAB from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of ESAB stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total value of $531,877.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total value of $7,269,395.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. The trade was a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

ESAB Profile

ESAB Corporation engages in the formulation, development, manufacture, and supply of consumable products and equipment for use in cutting, joining, automated welding, and gas control equipment. Its comprehensive range of welding consumables includes electrodes, cored and solid wires, and fluxes using a range of specialty and other materials; and cutting consumables comprising electrodes, nozzles, shields, and tips.