Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Position Cut by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 103,867 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,666 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.18% of Lincoln Electric worth $19,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $499,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $121,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,955,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.1 %

LECO stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $177.38. 236,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,308. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $242.65.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

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.