Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) CEO Sells $4,536,505.38 in Stock

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.1 %

LECO opened at $207.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $194.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.33.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $307,344,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,691,000 after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.