JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 335,558 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,501,012 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 335,558 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 2.66% of Lincoln Electric worth $288,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $24,604,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $189.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $204.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.17.

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.