Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 100,183 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,061,796 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 100,183 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.86% of Lincoln Electric worth $230,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $854,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $3.23 on Thursday, reaching $222.56. 237,883 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 287,996. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.00 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $246.64 and a 200-day moving average of $220.75.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $221.86.

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.