Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Buys 995 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 995 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $197.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $258.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $198.74 and a 200 day moving average of $197.45. The firm has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value 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 approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.