Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,043 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 58,206 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.71% of Lincoln Electric worth $77,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $518,210,000 after acquiring an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,604,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $474,129,000 after buying an additional 121,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 204.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,095,000 after buying an additional 92,820 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $213.65. 231,752 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 311,624. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a PEG ratio of 1.62 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.64.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. 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. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 33.89%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.