Morton Community Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Morton Community Bank cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $201.67 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $196.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.15. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. 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 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

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.