Stifel Financial Corp Decreases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,031 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,238 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.70% of Lincoln Electric worth $73,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other 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 transaction 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 approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $177.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.59. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $242.65. 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 capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 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.

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