Ethic Inc. Has $893,000 Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 25.6%, now owning 4,645 shares valued at approximately $893,000.
• Several institutional investors have expanded their positions in Lincoln Electric, including Fox Run Management, which increased its stake by 283.3%, now owning shares worth $1,415,000.
• Lincoln Electric's most recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with an EPS of $2.60 against a consensus estimate of $2.32, and the company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Ethic Inc. lowered its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 25.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,645 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,596 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and 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 fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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%

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $7.13 on Friday, reaching $245.25. 187,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 354,232. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day moving average is $224.38 and its 200-day moving average is $203.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $246.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Equities research 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 Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

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.