Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) EVP Sells $1,770,878.10 in Stock

Key Points

• Executive Vice President Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock for approximately $1.77 million, reducing his position by 19.62% and retaining 29,927 shares valued at over $7.25 million.
• Lincoln Electric's quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $2.60, exceeding estimates by $0.28, with a revenue of $1.09 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 6.6%.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, to be paid on October 15th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%.

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) 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 value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $242.18. The stock had a trading volume of 104,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,144. The company has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $218.07 and a 200 day moving average of $201.05. 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 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $246.83.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued 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 is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $323,167,000 after purchasing an additional 83,035 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,597,000 after purchasing an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 726,112 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $136,124,000 after purchasing an additional 75,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth $141,550,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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.