Amundi Has $108,000 Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Amundi lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 92.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 582 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,297 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $92,117,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,284,000 after purchasing an additional 147,239 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,345,000 after buying an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $197.26. 318,836 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,340. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $258.62. The business's 50-day moving average price is $198.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio 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.