Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric by 14.1%, now owning 30,920 shares valued at approximately $5.8 million.
• Lincoln Electric's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with $2.60 EPS and a revenue of $1.09 billion, surpassing estimates of $2.32 EPS and $1.04 billion revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an annual dividend yield of 1.3%, scheduled for payment on October 15th.

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,920 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,066 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $5,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,211,000 after purchasing an additional 290,562 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after purchasing an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $28,548,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,187,000 after purchasing an additional 147,483 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 405,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $76,715,000 after acquiring an additional 137,330 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $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. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $238.29. 916,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 261,803. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $236.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.66. The firm has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.