New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,943 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 26,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.14% of Lincoln Electric worth $15,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,691,000 after acquiring an additional 31,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 726,112 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $136,124,000 after purchasing an additional 75,651 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $211.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $0.80 on Friday, reaching $221.98. 203,672 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,160. The company has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $205.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.78. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $225.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.