Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 85,820 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 121,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,368,000 after purchasing an additional 38,368 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $651,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $219.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $198.22 and a 200-day moving average of $196.44.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 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 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 35.80%.

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.