Morgan Stanley Cuts Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target to $179.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $179.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.91% from the company’s previous close.

LECO has been the topic of a number of other reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price target on 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 cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO opened at $177.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $193.50 and a 200-day moving average of $196.87. Lincoln Electric has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $242.65.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $499,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,955,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.