Jane Street Group LLC Sells 47,741 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Jane Street Group LLC decreased its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 79.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,471 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,741 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in ESAB were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of ESAB by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,532 shares of the company's stock worth $46,321,000 after purchasing an additional 21,025 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of ESAB by 11.9% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of ESAB in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,139,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESAB during the 2nd quarter worth $179,000. 91.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ESAB stock traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.41. 130,292 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 255,949. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $124.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.49. ESAB Co. has a twelve month low of $82.44 and a twelve month high of $135.97.

ESAB (NYSE:ESAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.13. ESAB had a return on equity of 17.27% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $673.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that ESAB Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ESAB Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. ESAB's payout ratio is presently 7.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESAB. Evercore ISI lowered ESAB from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of ESAB in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of ESAB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Johnson sold 5,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $630,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,429,125. This trade represents a 30.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock valued at $8,431,773. 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.