Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.2 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $194.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, 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 quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $198.08 and a 200 day moving average of $196.93. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric 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.