Keybank National Association OH Sells 30,599 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Keybank National Association OH trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 708,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30,599 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $132,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $200.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.24 and a 200-day moving average of $197.02. The company has a market cap of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.