Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 695 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 18.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 65.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 63,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,311,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $1,943,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,442,000 after acquiring an additional 25,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,458,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp increased 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $207.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.63. 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 company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

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.