Ostrum Asset Management Takes $476,000 Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Ostrum Asset Management purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after purchasing an additional 18,805 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $325,359,000 after buying an additional 234,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,691,000 after buying an additional 31,033 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.76. 236,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,893. The company's 50 day moving average price is $190.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $238.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

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.