Amalgamated Bank Sells 3,969 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,623 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,969 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $5,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at about $24,604,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,129,000 after buying an additional 121,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 204.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,095,000 after buying an additional 92,820 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $217.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $190.94 and its 200-day moving average is $198.36. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.