American Century Companies Inc. Sells 54,153 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 54,153 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Lincoln Electric worth $43,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $3.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $192.22. 350,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,062. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.05. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $253.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. 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.