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

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.27 on Thursday, reaching $216.12. 257,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 349,361. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $196.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.55. 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 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.