Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 77.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,905 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 193,011 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.10% of Lincoln Electric worth $10,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,050,157,000 after purchasing an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,691,000 after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.80 on Wednesday, reaching $195.37. The company had a trading volume of 214,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,085. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G 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 $185.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.47. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $222.52.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 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 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

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.