Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECOFree Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Read Our Latest Analysis on Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $196.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $258.62. The company has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $198.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.45.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECOGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO)

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