Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,221 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of Lincoln Electric worth $20,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 239.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 184,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,438,000 after acquiring an additional 129,932 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $1,031,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 15,901 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,811,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3,475.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 51,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,100,000 after acquiring an additional 49,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $6,684,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $280.00 target price (down from $350.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $258.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $258.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.60. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.65 and a 1 year high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.61%.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.