Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,850,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after buying an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $28,396,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 411.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 191,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,856,000 after acquiring an additional 154,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $21,929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’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 owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Lincoln Electric 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. KeyCorp increased 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, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $225.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 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. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

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.