Brokerages Set Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Target Price at $221.67

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $221.67.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lincoln Electric

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 221.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 20,121 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,864,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 9,247 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded down $3.44 on Friday, hitting $213.65. The stock had a trading volume of 231,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,608. Lincoln Electric has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $190.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.36. The company has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric will post 8.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 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.