Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Lowers Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 31.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth about $65,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $213.81 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 1.40 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.50.

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.