Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 1,531 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 2.4%, now owning approximately 62,486 shares valued at $11.82 million.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Lincoln Electric, with KeyCorp increasing it from $250 to $280 and Morgan Stanley setting it at $180.
• Lincoln Electric reported a quarterly EPS of $2.60, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reflecting a 1.2% dividend yield.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,486 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,531 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned 0.11% of Lincoln Electric worth $11,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st 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 stake in 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO traded down $2.91 on Friday, reaching $242.63. The company had a trading volume of 263,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,180. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $228.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.