Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings to approximately 9.97%, amounting to $1.05 billion after selling 38,326 shares in the first quarter.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.60, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $1.09 billion, a 6.6% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, providing a dividend yield of 1.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,563,408 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 38,326 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.97% of Lincoln Electric worth $1,052,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.2% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $211,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,148 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. 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 report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7%

LECO stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $243.61. 237,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $246.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.36.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for 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 revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Lincoln Electric 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.