Signaturefd LLC Lowers Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Signaturefd LLC lessened its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $131,179,000 after purchasing an additional 58,695 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,705,000 after purchasing an additional 58,254 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

LECO stock opened at $219.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $247.18 and its 200 day moving average is $220.76. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

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.