Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Acquired by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Sharkey Howes & Javer bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at about $1,712,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 8,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,244 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $217.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.36.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric 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.