The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 1,378 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,378 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Lincoln Electric worth $7,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $463,000. KBC Group NV bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Connectus Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,509,000. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,525,000 after acquiring an additional 27,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $191.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.50. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.33.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.