Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 43.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,180 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth $35,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $238.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $247.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.45. The firm has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.21 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.31%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.