Trillium Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Trillium Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,559 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $194.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.95.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on 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 increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

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.