Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) CEO Steven B. Hedlund Sells 21,054 Shares

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $4.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.27. 301,101 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 285,477. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 worth $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lincoln Electric

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.