US Bancorp DE Increases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after buying an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,284,000 after buying an additional 147,239 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth about $8,029,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $201.67 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.15. 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 company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LECO. Barclays increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.