Pinebridge Investments L.P. Sells 6,880 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,880 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,117,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,284,000 after buying an additional 147,239 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $1.94 on Thursday, hitting $178.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 175,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,740. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $238.47. The company has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a PEG 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.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.