Verition Fund Management LLC Decreases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Verition Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 74.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 7,608 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.17.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.45 on Thursday, reaching $207.63. 221,792 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 314,340. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $204.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.78. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.16.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.