Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 2,613 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,323 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,613 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $750,000. Interval Partners LP bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,081,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 232,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $43,494,000 after purchasing an additional 32,993 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 40,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 331.6% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 11,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 8,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $4.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $196.27. 350,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $186.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.09. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year 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). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 1.53%. 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.