GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,517 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. owned about 0.14% of Lincoln Electric worth $15,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after acquiring an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 204.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,095,000 after purchasing an additional 92,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,617,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $193.71. 167,747 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,665. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $189.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.71. The stock has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.63 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.16%.

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.