Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,813,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped 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, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $2.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $194.86. The stock had a trading volume of 257,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,255. 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's 50 day moving average is $198.74 and its 200 day moving average is $197.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, 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 $258.62.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

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.