Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,962 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $104,203,000 after purchasing an additional 13,134 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 505,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $94,804,000 after purchasing an additional 23,327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $194.07. 429,647 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 311,849. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $10.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, 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 quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.95.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

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.