M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,364 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,705,000 after acquiring an additional 58,254 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.00.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $222.93 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.00 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.57.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.15%.

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.