D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Position in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 64.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,722 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,600 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in ESAB were worth $566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESAB. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ESAB by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of ESAB during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of ESAB during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 682 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. 91.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of ESAB from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $123.00 to $147.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of ESAB from $133.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of ESAB from $109.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $143.00 price target on ESAB in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at ESAB

In other news, insider Olivier Biebuyck sold 1,417 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.15, for a total value of $185,839.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,989 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,965,807.35. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.30% of the company's stock.

ESAB Stock Performance

ESAB stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.25. 13,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 277,931. The firm's fifty day moving average is $119.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.36. ESAB Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.54 and a fifty-two week high of $135.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $678.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.66 million. ESAB had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that ESAB Co. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This is a positive change from ESAB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.01%.

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.