Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 25,327 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 40.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 25,327 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $189.75 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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