Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,328 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,933 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.29% of Lincoln Electric worth $30,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating 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 research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.4%

LECO stock traded up $2.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 312,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,670. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $222.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.