AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 13.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,396 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $12,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 14,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,845 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,665,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $463,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $189.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.33.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.