Ledyard National Bank Trims Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Ledyard National Bank reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $9,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,705,000 after acquiring an additional 58,254 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $86,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ LECO traded down $4.81 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $225.13. 414,008 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 285,506. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.00 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

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.