Fayez Sarofim & Co Trims Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Fayez Sarofim & Co lessened its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,114 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned approximately 0.49% of Lincoln Electric worth $51,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.76. 237,051 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 327,227. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $238.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.43.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

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.