Ledyard National Bank Sells 2,953 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Ledyard National Bank lessened its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,953 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $10,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 411.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 191,740 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,856,000 after purchasing an additional 154,286 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,056 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 136.0% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $534,000. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $321,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded down $3.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $205.49. 329,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 337,362. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.15. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $198.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.71.

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.