Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $3.15 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. CWM LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 170.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 128.6% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 6,171 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.4% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $239.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.69 and a 200-day moving average of $218.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.21 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 30.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

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.