Swiss National Bank Sells 700 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 111,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $21,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $208.51 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $196.81 and its 200-day moving average is $197.07. The firm has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $220.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other 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 value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 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.