Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 25,327 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,327 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elios Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Vestcor Inc increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,962 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $834,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,042,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $189.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $205.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.81.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.17.

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.