Boston Trust Walden Corp Has $61.80 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 321,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.57% of Lincoln Electric worth $61,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,709,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,458,387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,062 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,155,000 after purchasing an additional 38,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.0 %

LECO traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $193.71. 167,747 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,665. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $189.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.63 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 32.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

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.