New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $12.50 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 60,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $12,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,658 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,187,000 after purchasing an additional 147,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148 in the last three months. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LECO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $235.02 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $238.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.57. The company has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.71%.

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.