Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. Sells 49 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Citadel Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 49 shares during the period. Citadel Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $591,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,200,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $716,620,000 after acquiring an additional 38,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.3 %

LECO stock opened at $250.05 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.36 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $244.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.25.

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.