Ritholtz Wealth Management Reduces Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Ritholtz Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $242.95 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.48. The company has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.50.

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.