Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 100 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 92.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.8%

NASDAQ LECO opened at $235.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $239.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.72.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.33.

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.