Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at $65,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $215.90 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

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.