Greenleaf Trust Sells 236 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $854,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $235.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $248.69 and a 200 day moving average of $218.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.21 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

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.