Fox Run Management L.L.C. Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,951 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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 on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of LECO traded down $4.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.29. The stock had a trading volume of 277,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,679. The stock's 50 day moving average is $198.68 and its 200 day moving average is $197.86. The firm has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $255.60.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.