Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) SVP Sells $233,230.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Lincoln Electric's SVP Michael Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock for a total of $233,230.00, decreasing his position by 9.83%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, set to be paid on October 15th, representing an annual yield of 1.3%.
• Lincoln Electric reported earnings of $2.60 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.28 for the most recent quarter, with revenue up 6.6% compared to the previous year.

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) SVP Michael Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO traded down $2.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.98. The company had a trading volume of 261,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,801. 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 $249.19. The company has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $235.48 and a 200-day moving average of $207.72.

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. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 7,739 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,368,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 9,375 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $337,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

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.

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