Barclays PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Barclays PLC reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 15.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,890 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,890 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $999,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth about $834,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,042,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 2,642 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $189.75 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The business’s fifty day moving average is $205.20 and its 200 day moving average is $195.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.17.

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.