Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 5,300 Shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB)

Primecap Management Co. CA lessened its position in shares of ESAB Co. (NYSE:ESAB - Free Report) by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,667 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA's holdings in ESAB were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in ESAB by 11.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,424,115 shares of the company's stock worth $710,316,000 after purchasing an additional 653,377 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in ESAB by 7.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 432,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,827,000 after acquiring an additional 29,453 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in ESAB by 44.3% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 64,239 shares of the company's stock worth $6,066,000 after purchasing an additional 19,721 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of ESAB by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ESAB by 8.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,700 shares of the company's stock worth $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the period. 91.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ESAB Trading Up 1.7 %

ESAB stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.54. The stock had a trading volume of 349,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,834. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.39. ESAB Co. has a 12 month low of $76.08 and a 12 month high of $135.97.

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

ESAB Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. ESAB's dividend payout ratio is 7.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ESAB news, CEO Shyam Kambeyanda sold 59,120 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.96, for a total transaction of $7,269,395.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 53,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,627,789.92. This represents a 52.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhonda L. Jordan sold 4,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.03, for a total transaction of $531,877.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,418 shares of company stock worth $8,431,773 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ESAB shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of ESAB from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ESAB from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $144.00 price target (up previously from $138.00) on shares of ESAB in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of ESAB from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on ESAB from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.14.

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.