New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $19,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 21.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value 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 trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of LECO opened at $207.27 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.33. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

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.