Fiera Capital Corp Sells 6,527 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,381 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,527 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.34% of Lincoln Electric worth $37,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,604,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 204.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,095,000 after purchasing an additional 92,820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $213.65. The company had a trading volume of 231,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,758. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 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 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm's 50 day moving average is $191.34 and its 200-day moving average is $198.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. 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 1.40%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on 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, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $221.67.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.