Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases New Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 256,872 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in 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 worth $50,284,000 after purchasing an additional 147,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,604,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $215.90 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lincoln Electric Company 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.