Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stake Trimmed by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,857 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,599 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of Lincoln Electric worth $9,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,117,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,284,000 after purchasing an additional 147,239 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $9.59 during trading on Monday, reaching $195.47. 45,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,017. The company has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business's 50-day moving average price is $185.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.56. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $238.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. It offers brazing and soldering filler metals, arc welding equipment, plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems, wire feeding systems, fume control equipment, welding accessories, and specialty gas regulators, and education solutions, as well as a portfolio of automated solutions for joining, cutting, material handling, module assembly, and end of line testing, as well as involved in brazing and soldering alloys, and in the retail business in the United States.