Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 13.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36,790 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Lincoln Electric worth $44,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.29.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $184.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.90.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.