Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,834 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 85.5% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $834,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $3,042,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $185.45 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $202.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.79. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. 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 1.62%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.60.

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.