Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by VELA Investment Management LLC

VELA Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric makes up approximately 1.4% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,623,000. Nelson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 227,654 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,203,000 after acquiring an additional 13,134 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LECO opened at $205.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $195.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.79.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric 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 value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, 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 the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.