Greenleaf Trust Decreases Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 170.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 128.6% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 6,171 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4,709.1% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $235.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.21 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.50.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on 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 owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. 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.