Wellington Management Group LLP Has $8.13 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 21.7%, now owning 42,966 shares valued at approximately $8.13 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75, representing an annualized rate of $3.00, with a dividend yield of 1.2%.
• After its latest earnings report, Lincoln Electric beat EPS estimates with $2.60 and reported revenue of $1.09 billion, surpassing expectations of $1.04 billion.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,939 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.08% of Lincoln Electric worth $8,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its stake 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. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.0%

LECO stock traded down $2.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $240.31. 96,324 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,698. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $229.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.53. 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 company has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.