Bank of America Corp DE Has $16.42 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 30.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 39,098 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.16% of Lincoln Electric worth $16,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,937,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 95.1% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 23,311 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 11,360 shares during the period. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $201.07 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $229.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $185.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

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.