Xponance Inc. Sells 428 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Xponance Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,954 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 428 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $925,000. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $13,377,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 59,080.0% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 23,672 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,303,000 after purchasing an additional 23,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.3 %

LECO stock opened at $235.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

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.