Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Twinbeech Capital LP

Twinbeech Capital LP trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 604 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP owned 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $216.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.8%

LECO opened at $201.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $229.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.56 and a 200-day moving average of $195.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.99%.

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.