KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $2.48 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,200 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,483,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 2,870 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,976 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,054,000 after buying an additional 28,199 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $956,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $1,546,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 18,536 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,475,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:LECO traded down $4.57 on Friday, reaching $190.29. The stock had a trading volume of 277,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,679. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $255.60. The company has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day moving average is $198.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

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Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.