Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC decreased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,652,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 22.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 47,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,088,000 after buying an additional 8,819 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at $114,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock opened at $192.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.05. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $253.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.