Pinebridge Investments L.P. Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,880 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $121,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,955,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $833,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $184.00. 574,556 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 327,812. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $238.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.44. 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 company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.