Fiera Capital Corp Sells 4,791 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,870 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,791 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp owned 0.42% of Lincoln Electric worth $53,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $354,063,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,550,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 439.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,691,000 after buying an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 239.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 184,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,438,000 after acquiring an additional 129,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 83,035 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $297.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research lowered Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $253.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.83.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $288.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $261.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $310.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.91%.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.