Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 14,692 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,934 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 14,692 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Lincoln Electric worth $10,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $3,974,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $192.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,036,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,330. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $198.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.99. The company has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, 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 one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $258.99.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.