Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Downgraded by StockNews.com

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $226.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $193.57. 192,799 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 320,600. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LECO. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $314,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $90,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at about $942,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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