Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.95% of Lincoln Electric worth $100,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $185.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business's fifty day moving average is $190.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.51. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $238.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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