Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Wellington Shields & Co. LLC

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 20.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 126.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 85,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,616,000 after purchasing an additional 47,898 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $434,000. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 16,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after buying an additional 6,908 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 657,126.7% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 98,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,922,000 after buying an additional 98,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $187.51. 80,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 334,289. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.93.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.04 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, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.29.

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.