Gotham Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Gotham Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,666 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 12,677 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Lincoln Electric worth $21,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $243.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $231.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LECO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.40.

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.