Fisher Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 505,701 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 23,327 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.90% of Lincoln Electric worth $94,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at $999,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at $499,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.1 %

LECO stock traded up $2.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $195.82. 397,347 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 309,718. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.