Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 269,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,209 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $55,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 619.3% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 132.9% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of LECO stock opened at $220.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.50. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.00.

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.