Natixis Advisors L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lessened its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,048 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,705,000 after purchasing an additional 58,254 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $78,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 225,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. 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 transaction of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $238.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $981.20 million during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on LECO. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.00.

Lincoln Electric 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.