Raymond James Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has decreased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 22.8%, selling 112,152 shares and now holds approximately 0.68% of the company, valued at $71.73 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings, with Victory Capital Management growing its stake by 16.2% and Vaughan Nelson Investment Management increasing by 51.2% in the first quarter.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, with the payout scheduled for October 15th.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,218 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 112,152 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.68% of Lincoln Electric worth $71,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,789 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,334,000 after buying an additional 22,899 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $530,000. Finally, Natixis acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,654,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of LECO traded up $7.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $245.25. 187,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 354,232. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $246.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

About Lincoln Electric

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.