Commerce Bank Sells 1,145 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Commerce Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,145 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,251,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $227,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 38.6% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,408,000 after buying an additional 21,231 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $2,275,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.5%

LECO stock traded down $3.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $241.93. The company had a trading volume of 365,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 353,940. The stock has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $246.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $213.38 and a 200-day moving average of $199.56.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

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.