Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,639,428 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $307,344,000. Norges Bank owned about 2.91% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 221.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,652,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 47,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,088,000 after purchasing an additional 8,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO traded down $14.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $180.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 76,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,621. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $198.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.02. The firm has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G 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 $253.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.