Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Holdings Decreased by FORA Capital LLC

FORA Capital LLC reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,272 shares during the quarter. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 20,337.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 52.1% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 26,764 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 9,164 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 202.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,221 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,975,000 after purchasing an additional 20,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 11.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 16,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock opened at $216.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $198.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

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.