Bank of America Corp DE Sells 39,098 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,562 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 39,098 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.16% of Lincoln Electric worth $16,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,937,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 95.1% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 23,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 11,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $575,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $191.52. The stock had a trading volume of 267,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 330,510. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $222.52. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend 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.