Sapient Capital LLC Sells 49,883 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Sapient Capital LLC reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric by 57% in the second quarter, now holding approximately 37,578 shares valued at $7.82 million.
• Lincoln Electric reported earnings of $2.60 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.28, and a revenue of $1.09 billion against expectations of $1.04 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on October 15th.

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 57.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,578 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 49,883 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC owned 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $238.29. 916,292 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,803. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $236.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 in the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.