Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 29,382 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at about $141,550,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,548,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,187,000 after buying an additional 147,483 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 504,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,589,000 after buying an additional 98,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $323,167,000 after buying an additional 83,035 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $233.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.04. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This trade represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LECO. Zacks Research downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price target on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.00.

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.