Barclays PLC Has $5.16 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Barclays PLC lessened its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,890 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 4,890 shares during the period. Barclays PLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp increased their price target 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, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.17.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $189.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,235,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,667. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $205.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.73. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

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.