Swiss National Bank Reduces Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Lincoln Electric worth $24,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 151.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.3 %

LECO stock opened at $229.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.40. The stock has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.00 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 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 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.