LPL Financial LLC Raises Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,449 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 2,450 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of LECO stock traded up $4.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $181.13. 226,675 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,371. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $243.04. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $194.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

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.