Boston Family Office LLC Sells 3,284 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Boston Family Office LLC reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 8.6%, owning $6.63 million worth of shares, as institutional investors collectively own 79.61% of the company's stock.
• Lincoln Electric reported $2.60 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.28, with a revenue increase of 6.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, which equates to an annual yield of 1.3%, contributing to a payout ratio of 33.71%.

Boston Family Office LLC reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,064 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,284 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $2.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $240.75. The stock had a trading volume of 188,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,986. The stock has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $246.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $222.13 and a 200-day moving average of $202.56.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The firm's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

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.