Distillate Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 80,275 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $15,049,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.14% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 24,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,524 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,910,000 after buying an additional 4,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp upped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $177.38. 236,439 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 327,804. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $242.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $193.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. 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 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.