M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,313 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,277 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,062,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,118,000 after acquiring an additional 334,582 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,211,000 after acquiring an additional 290,562 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.5%

LECO stock opened at $220.48 on Thursday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $199.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $222.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given 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 1.36%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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