Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors trimmed its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.0% in Q3, selling 11,033 shares and now holds 532,998 shares (~0.97% of the company) valued at about $125.7 million.
• Several brokerages raised price targets (KeyCorp to $340, Barclays to $310, Stifel to $300) while Morgan Stanley remains underweight; the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with a $302.83 price target.
• Lincoln Electric beat EPS estimates ($2.65 vs. $2.53) but slightly missed revenue, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.79 (ex-dividend March 31), implying a ~1.2% yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 532,998 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,033 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.97% of Lincoln Electric worth $125,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,700.0% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 114 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 82.4% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 155 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3,860.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $253.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $302.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $266.71 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $310.00. The stock has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 33.91%.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: LECO is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company's portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.

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