By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE – Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,840 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $3,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESE. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in ESCO Technologies by 747.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 378.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 565 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in ESCO Technologies by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 571 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 287.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 775 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 95.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESE. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of ESCO Technologies from $150.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded ESCO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.
View Our Latest Analysis on ESE
ESCO Technologies Trading Up 2.7 %
ESE opened at $150.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.11 and a twelve month high of $171.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.37 and a 200-day moving average of $142.79.
ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.34. ESCO Technologies had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 10.44%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current year.
ESCO Technologies Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is 7.51%.
About ESCO Technologies
ESCO Technologies Inc produces and supplies engineered products and systems for industrial and commercial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Defense, Utility Solutions Group, and RF Test & Measurement. The Aerospace & Defense segment designs and manufactures filtration products, including hydraulic filter elements and fluid control devices used in commercial aerospace applications; filter mechanisms used in micro-propulsion devices for satellites; and custom designed filters for manned aircraft and submarines.
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