Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 29,165 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 124,009 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 29,165 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Lincoln Electric worth $23,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $193.82. 51,378 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,249. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.07. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $222.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.