Stifel Financial Corp Trims Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 393,031 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,238 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.70% of Lincoln Electric worth $73,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ LECO traded down $2.52 on Monday, reaching $183.25. The company had a trading volume of 78,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,645. The company's fifty day moving average is $190.18 and its 200-day moving average is $196.51. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $238.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.