Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $247.97 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $152.36 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $245.74 and a 200-day moving average of $213.94.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.