Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,726,698 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 124,118 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 3.14% of Lincoln Electric worth $413,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5,862.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,271,364 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $304,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,041 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,135,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,691,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 675.0% in the third quarter. Cartenna Capital LP now owns 310,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,107,000 after buying an additional 270,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $330.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price target (down from $350.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of LECO stock opened at $258.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $259.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.67. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.13 and a 12-month high of $310.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 12.38%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 32.61%.

Lincoln Electric 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.