Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Nelson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $562,000. Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 227,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,203,000 after acquiring an additional 13,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $205.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.