Keybank National Association OH Trims Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Keybank National Association OH decreased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 708,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 30,599 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH owned 1.26% of Lincoln Electric worth $132,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $195.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 395,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 309,488. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The business's 50-day moving average is $196.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.