Atria Investments Inc Sells 552 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 24.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $213.52 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $196.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.07.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by 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.