Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 285,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,708 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $75,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $407,000. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $12,025,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $283.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.11.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $279.33 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.22 and a 1 year high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.06% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 31st will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 31st. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 14,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.95, for a total transaction of $4,051,903.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,899,031.85. This represents a 18.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer of welding, cutting and industrial automation products. The company serves customers in industries including construction, manufacturing, energy, transportation and heavy equipment.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding equipment, welding consumables such as electrodes and welding wire, plasma-cutting systems, welding accessories and personal protective equipment. Lincoln Electric also provides robotic and automated welding systems, industrial automation solutions, application engineering, training and maintenance services.