Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Decreases Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $197.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $198.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.45. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $258.62.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.