Man Group plc Has $6.98 Million Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Man Group plc reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,221 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 26,958 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 83,956 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $191.52. 267,957 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 330,510. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $222.52. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $186.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.23.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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 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 yield of 1.57%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 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.