Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upped their price target 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $196.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.18. 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 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $198.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.48.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.