Bank of New Hampshire Sells 277 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bank of New Hampshire cut its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric accounts for about 1.1% of Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.63.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of LECO traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $228.93. 141,398 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,379. The company has a market capitalization of $13.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $156.80 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.31%.

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.