Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,796 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.31% of Lincoln Electric worth $39,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $354,063,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,558,783 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $323,167,000 after purchasing an additional 83,035 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,550,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 439.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,691,000 after purchasing an additional 486,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.4% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 581,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $120,573,000 after purchasing an additional 45,185 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $297.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $253.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.83.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $287.05 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.69. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $310.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.91%.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.