Amalgamated Bank Has $5.30 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,969 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 142.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,702 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 8,061 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Fiduciary Family Office LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.7% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 2,515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 200.5% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 652 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 65.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $217.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $190.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.36. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.83 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

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.