Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 433,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $81,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $320,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,298,000 after purchasing an additional 14,692 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,903,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $190.60 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $197.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.97. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

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.