Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Stake Decreased by Boston Family Office LLC

Boston Family Office LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,421 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,052,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the first 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 acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth about $740,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 21,231 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $227,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.2%

LECO stock opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.04.

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

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.83%.

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.