Eagle Asset Management Inc. Has $90.82 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 472,963 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 28,511 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.84% of Lincoln Electric worth $90,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $23,233,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $3.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $212.36. 159,152 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 316,509. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.07.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 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 1.41%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.