Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,061,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100,183 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $230,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

LECO stock opened at $219.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $246.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.75.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

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.