Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Position Decreased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,271 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $23,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,110,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $925,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO opened at $229.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.80 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.