Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $190.50 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $197.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.99.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.