Rhumbline Advisers Has $30.90 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,328 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,933 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Lincoln Electric worth $30,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $55,211,000 after acquiring an additional 290,562 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.71 on Friday, hitting $201.44. 312,863 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 326,003. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $222.52. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.