Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,155,000 after buying an additional 38,206 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.2 %

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

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.00.

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.