Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $2.91 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,516 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,284,000 after purchasing an additional 147,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,604,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ LECO traded up $1.41 on Friday, reaching $206.69. The company had a trading volume of 457,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,474. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The stock's 50 day moving average is $195.90 and its 200-day moving average is $196.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.