Axa S.A. Has $24.90 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Axa S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,536 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $24,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $253,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 14,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $193.60 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.37 and a 200-day moving average of $209.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric 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.