Ledyard National Bank Sells 8,101 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Ledyard National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 34.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 8,101 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 530,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 318,251. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $192.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.36.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

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.