Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank cut its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank owned 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $9,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LECO. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.86.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded down $4.81 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $225.13. 414,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 285,506. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $248.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.22. The company has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.