Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 16,079 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 68.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,079 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $219.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.44. The company has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

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.