New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $1.29 Million Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $854,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $228.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $244.56 and a 200-day moving average of $222.35. The company has a market cap of $13.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.