Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,153 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elios Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $999,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $499,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $207.47 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $195.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.53. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

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.