Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stock Position in ESAB Corporation $ESAB

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in ESAB Corporation (NYSE:ESAB) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 269,357 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,642 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in ESAB were worth $30,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 109.4% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ESAB in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of ESAB by 59.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESAB. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on ESAB from $158.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of ESAB in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded ESAB from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $146.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.44.

ESAB Stock Performance

Shares of ESAB opened at $101.14 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. ESAB Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.41 and a 12 month high of $137.42. The company has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.36.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $687.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $687.80 million. ESAB had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 7.98%.The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ESAB Corporation will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. ESAB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.79, for a total transaction of $7,353,621.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,362,164.56. This represents a 37.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ESAB Profile

ESAB Corporation is a global leader in welding, cutting and gas control technologies, offering a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and automation solutions. The company’s products include welding power sources, cutting machines, torches, electrodes, filler metals and gas regulating equipment designed to meet the needs of diverse industries. ESAB serves sectors such as construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing, providing both standard and customized solutions to enhance productivity and quality in metal fabrication and processing.

Founded in 1904 by Swedish inventor Oscar Kjellberg, ESAB pioneered the development of coated welding electrodes, laying the groundwork for modern welding practices.