New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,824 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,862 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.12% of Lincoln Electric worth $13,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $1,225,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 74,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,324,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 79,517 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,269,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the third quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 8,931 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 4.8 %

LECO traded up $9.19 on Friday, hitting $201.75. 356,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 265,497. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 4.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $221.67.

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.