Banco Santander S.A. Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $213.52 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $196.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

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.