Keybank National Association OH Has $132.90 Million Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Keybank National Association OH decreased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 708,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30,599 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH owned approximately 1.26% of Lincoln Electric worth $132,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Elios Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $999,000. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $200.31 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

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.