Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 34.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,462 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,594 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 334 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 78.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. CL King started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $200.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $176.00 to $211.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $187.00.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 8,962 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.27, for a total value of $1,794,819.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,919,283.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Christopher L. Mapes sold 89,030 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $17,291,406.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,034,180.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 8,962 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.27, for a total transaction of $1,794,819.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,570 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,283.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,757 shares of company stock valued at $22,975,215. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $194.87 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.01 and a 1 year high of $210.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.16.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.04% and a return on equity of 46.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, September 30th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.26%.

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, as well as consumables used in the brazing and soldering alloys market.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you consider Lincoln Electric, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Lincoln Electric wasn't on the list.

While Lincoln Electric currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here

Wondering when you'll finally be able to invest in SpaceX, StarLink or The Boring Company? Click the link below to learn when Elon Musk will let these companies finally IPO.

Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools:

View the latest news, buy/sell ratings, SEC filings and insider transactions for your stocks. Compare your portfolio performance to leading indices and get personalized stock ideas based on your portfolio.

Get daily stock ideas from top-performing Wall Street analysts. Get short term trading ideas from the MarketBeat Idea Engine. View which stocks are hot on social media with MarketBeat's trending stocks report.

Identify stocks that meet your criteria using seven unique stock screeners. See what's happening in the market right now with MarketBeat's real-time news feed. Export data to Excel for your own analysis.