American National Bank & Trust Trims Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

American National Bank & Trust reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 17.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,738 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 594 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $192.08 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $190.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.33.

About Lincoln Electric

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.