Vestcor Inc Sells 2,518 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 30.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,518 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,903,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,336 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $801,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $190.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.