Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 46.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 29,382 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 18.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,052,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $740,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 38.6% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $14,408,000 after buying an additional 21,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $233.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.04. The company has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.