D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 21,191 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 21,191 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $496,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $6.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.37. 269,787 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 334,680. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $185.88 and a 200 day moving average of $195.67. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $229.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 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.