Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 33,000 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $337,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 9,375 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 150.4% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,330 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,368,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $193.12. 74,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,365. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $222.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $186.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.07.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 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.