Corebridge Financial Inc. Lowers Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Corebridge Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,017 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,174 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned 0.11% of Lincoln Electric worth $12,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric 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 transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $4.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $190.29. The company had a trading volume of 277,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,679. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $255.60. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 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.