State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $5.23 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 62.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,625 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 46,830 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased 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 in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $201.08 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $190.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.66. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $222.52. The company has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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