Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by WealthPLAN Partners LLC

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,575 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,734,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,122,000 after purchasing an additional 12,773 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $336,627,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,578,000 after purchasing an additional 67,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 561,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $122,138,000 after purchasing an additional 6,280 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,479,000 after purchasing an additional 424,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.29.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO traded up $2.77 on Friday, reaching $196.93. 384,291 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,361. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

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.