GAMMA Investing LLC Has $246,000 Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,312 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $185.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.94.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 1.62%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.17.

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.