Commerce Bank Sells 3,980 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Commerce Bank lessened its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,980 shares during the period. Commerce Bank owned approximately 0.05% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.8% in the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the first quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.29.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $191.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.00 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. 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.