New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,000 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,445 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Lincoln Electric worth $11,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 2,870 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of LECO traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $216.12. 257,398 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 321,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50 day moving average is $197.46 and its 200-day moving average is $193.80. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52.

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 company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.