M&T Bank Corp Has $7.42 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 697 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Elios Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $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 during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth $499,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $195.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $196.64 and its 200 day moving average is $197.07. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp raised 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.