Wealthspire Advisors LLC Invests $264,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $210,831,000 after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 147,239 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $24,604,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during the 3rd 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. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded down $6.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $200.02. 302,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 279,537. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 1.51 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. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $196.24 and its 200-day moving average is $197.02.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.81%.

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.