Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Decreases Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 51.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,574 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,681 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $104,203,000 after acquiring an additional 13,134 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $5,623,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 505,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,804,000 after purchasing an additional 23,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO opened at $209.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $222.52. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $194.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.27.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.

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