Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 4.8%, holding 374,862 shares, valued at approximately $70.9 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Lincoln Electric, with Brooklyn Investment Group boosting its stake by 279.6% during the 1st quarter.
• Lincoln Electric recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 33.71%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 374,862 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 18,921 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned about 0.67% of Lincoln Electric worth $70,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 95.1% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 23,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 11,360 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,159 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 331.6% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 11,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 40,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $0.93 during trading on Thursday, reaching $243.09. The stock had a trading volume of 79,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,652. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $234.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.04. The company has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.33.

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.