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

Amundi decreased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 92.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,297 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $192.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.99. The firm has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $258.99.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.