Skylands Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,630 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,340 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $131,179,000 after purchasing an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,705,000 after purchasing an additional 58,254 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric
In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have commented on LECO. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $221.86.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LECO
Lincoln Electric Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded down $4.81 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $225.13. The company had a trading volume of 414,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,506. The company's 50 day moving average price is $248.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $261.13.
Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The company's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.
Lincoln Electric Profile
(
Free Report)
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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