Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,209 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,159 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,209 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric comprises approximately 0.8% of Lifestyle Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $925,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $95,479,000 after purchasing an additional 424,831 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,525,000 after purchasing an additional 27,989 shares during the period. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,377,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $252.00 to $236.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.29.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $185.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 138,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,583. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.15.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.15%.

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.