Captrust Financial Advisors Decreases Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Captrust Financial Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,140 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,118,000 after purchasing an additional 334,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.1%

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $195.76 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $185.23 and its 200-day moving average is $195.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $232.75. The company has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $216.17.

Insider Transactions 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 value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.