Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Position Reduced by CM Wealth Advisors LLC

CM Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 159,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,840 shares during the period. Lincoln Electric makes up approximately 9.8% of CM Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. CM Wealth Advisors LLC owned 0.28% of Lincoln Electric worth $30,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $177.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 236,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,308. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $242.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $193.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.78.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $219.00.

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.