Voya Investment Management LLC Increases Position in ESCO Technologies Inc. $ESE

Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,353 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,891 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ESCO Technologies were worth $2,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 345.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 707,244 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $135,699,000 after purchasing an additional 548,600 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ESCO Technologies by 60.1% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 303,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $58,262,000 after buying an additional 113,940 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESCO Technologies by 94.9% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 185,928 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,674,000 after buying an additional 90,528 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of ESCO Technologies in the second quarter worth $17,084,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in ESCO Technologies by 3,036.9% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 54,551 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,467,000 after acquiring an additional 52,812 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bryan H. Sayler sold 9,382 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $2,064,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,655 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,100. This represents a 31.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vinod M. Khilnani sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.99, for a total value of $653,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,468 shares in the company, valued at $4,461,819.32. This represents a 12.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,699 shares of company stock worth $4,778,734. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ESCO Technologies Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE ESE opened at $200.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.35. ESCO Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $127.17 and a one year high of $229.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 1.22.

ESCO Technologies (NYSE:ESE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.19. ESCO Technologies had a net margin of 25.76% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $286.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. ESCO Technologies’s revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. ESCO Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.350 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-7.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that ESCO Technologies Inc. will post 5.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ESCO Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. ESCO Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 2.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CJS Securities raised shares of ESCO Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a)” rating on shares of ESCO Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research raised ESCO Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded ESCO Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $187.50.

About ESCO Technologies

ESCO Technologies Inc is a diversified manufacturer of engineered products and systems designed to meet customers’ critical performance requirements in the test, measurement, control, and filtration of data, fluids, and gases. The company serves a wide range of end markets, including commercial aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and communication network sectors. ESCO’s solutions are tailored to environments where reliability, precision and regulatory compliance are paramount.

Operating through multiple business segments, ESCO Technologies delivers test and measurement instruments such as RF and microwave components, signal distribution systems, and integrated test enclosures that support defense and aerospace programs.