Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 64.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,989 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,639 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $67,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $209.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $194.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.27. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $222.52.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.