Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,043 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.0 %

LECO stock opened at $239.77 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $155.21 and a one 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $248.69 and its 200 day moving average is $218.86. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.