CM Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

CM Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,840 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric comprises approximately 9.8% of CM Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. CM Wealth Advisors LLC owned about 0.28% of Lincoln Electric worth $30,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $177.38. The company had a trading volume of 236,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,160. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $193.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.87. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $242.65.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

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.