Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,964 shares during the period. AXA S.A. owned 0.23% of Lincoln Electric worth $23,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.34 on Friday, hitting $185.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 287,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,833. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.52 and a 200-day moving average of $195.60. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $238.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.