Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 17,884 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,884 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 20.3% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 31,290 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $114,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 153.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 19,182 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,683,000 after buying an additional 11,613 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $218.48. 108,069 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 276,245. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $200.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. Lincoln Electric's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

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.