Royce & Associates LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Royce & Associates LP cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 203,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 24,016 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.36% of Lincoln Electric worth $38,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,117,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,284,000 after acquiring an additional 147,239 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $194.07. The company had a trading volume of 429,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,849. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.91 and a 200 day moving average of $196.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during 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, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.