Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth $249,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 6,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,393,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 107,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 245.9% during the second quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $229.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $233.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.44. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research lowered Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.