Hsbc Holdings PLC Reduces Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Rating) by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,346 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,200,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $716,620,000 after purchasing an additional 38,059 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,898,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,177,000 after purchasing an additional 39,334 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,844,640 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,908,000 after purchasing an additional 70,254 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 765,281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,212,000 after purchasing an additional 10,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 715,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,240,000 after purchasing an additional 8,790 shares in the last quarter. 73.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $149.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.25.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 2,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.15, for a total value of $372,672.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,379,426.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $173.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $118.17 and a 52 week high of $176.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.01 and its 200 day moving average is $147.07. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.56% and a return on equity of 52.02%. The company had revenue of $930.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.64 per share. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.80%.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

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Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc engages in the manufacture of arc welding equipment, consumable welding products and other welding and cutting products. Its welding products include arc welding power sources, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes and fluxes.