Amalgamated Bank Sells 104 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,592 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank owned about 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $5,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,458,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 687,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $149,578,000 after purchasing an additional 67,867 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,155,000 after purchasing an additional 38,206 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,479,000 after purchasing an additional 424,831 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $185.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.04.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.29.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.