Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $1.03 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 25.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,957 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 21.0% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 6,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 368,478 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $76,393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 107,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 245.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The company has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.14 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

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.