Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Holdings Cut by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,491 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.7 %

LECO opened at $206.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.37 and a 200-day moving average of $197.19. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

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.