Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $216.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.29. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.89%.

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.