Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,671 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,771 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.53% of Lincoln Electric worth $66,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $210.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of LECO traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $247.97. 256,888 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 293,652. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.36 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm's fifty day moving average is $245.74 and its 200-day moving average is $213.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 30.31%.

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.