Empowered Funds LLC Purchases Shares of 2,644 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 328,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,629,000 after buying an additional 6,912 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $215.90 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.