Invesco Ltd. Cuts Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,135,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 73,141 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 2.01% of Lincoln Electric worth $212,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $181.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.29. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $243.04. The company has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.