Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Cambiar Investors LLC

Key Points

• Cambiar Investors LLC has reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 11.2%, selling 5,899 shares and retaining 46,637 shares valued at approximately $8.82 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.60 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.32, with revenue also exceeding estimates at $1.09 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on October 15th to shareholders on record as of September 30th.

Cambiar Investors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,899 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC owned about 0.08% of Lincoln Electric worth $8,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 11.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 256,909 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $48,597,000 after buying an additional 26,898 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 283.3% during the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 7,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 5,528 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 17.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 19.1% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,589,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $7.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $245.25. The stock had a trading volume of 46,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,095. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $223.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $246.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LECO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.40.

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.