Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 5,274 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 20.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,290 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,274 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $218.48. 108,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,826. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.57. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 35.80%.

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.