Inspire Investing LLC Cuts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 27.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,663 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.8% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 26,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,673,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $226.33.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $193.57 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.42. The stock has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.00 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.