Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Acquired by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth 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. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $177.00 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $242.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $192.01 and its 200-day moving average is $196.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Lincoln Electric 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.

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