Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,110,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $925,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $239.77 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.21 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $218.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.31%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric 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.