Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 46.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 38,368 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.22% of Lincoln Electric worth $23,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $518,210,000 after acquiring an additional 891,111 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares in the last quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $24,604,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth $23,233,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $6.42 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $219.94. 385,334 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,948. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.44. The firm has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

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.