Quantbot Technologies LP Has $147,000 Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Quantbot Technologies LP lessened its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 786 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,396 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth 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 increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $190.29 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $255.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.