Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,180 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $238.88. The stock had a trading volume of 198,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,865. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $247.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $155.21 and a one year high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $13.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $210.25.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.