Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 230,011 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 54,153 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $43,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at about $499,000. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 31,290 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,008,000 after purchasing an additional 5,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $194.86 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $258.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $198.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.