Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,180 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $854,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was 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 at this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $238.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

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.