Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 558 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 558 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $238.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’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 transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Lincoln Electric

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.