Citigroup Inc. Purchases 2,400 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 14.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $651,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 221.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 20,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,864,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $216.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.84. 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.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 33.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.00.

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.