Boston Family Office LLC Sells 510 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Boston Family Office LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,348 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 510 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO stock opened at $189.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $198.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.95. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $255.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.