Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $230.90 Million Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,061,796 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100,183 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.86% of Lincoln Electric worth $230,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after buying an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,705,000 after buying an additional 58,254 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after buying an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.86.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $219.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $246.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.75. The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.23.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.