Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 29,418 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 519,779 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 29,418 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.91% of Lincoln Electric worth $113,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $925,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $13,377,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $2,110,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $6.41 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $231.66. The stock had a trading volume of 275,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,895. The stock's 50 day moving average is $243.19 and its 200 day moving average is $223.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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, April 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $228.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LECO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.