Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,808 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 823 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after buying an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,345,000 after buying an additional 61,640 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,203,000 after acquiring an additional 13,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 328,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,629,000 after acquiring an additional 6,912 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of 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 market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $196.24 and a 200 day moving average of $197.02. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays raised their target price 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.