Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,033 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.19% of Lincoln Electric worth $231,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,974,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective 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 decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $10.02 on Thursday, hitting $174.58. 61,448 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 323,247. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm's 50-day moving average is $195.15 and its 200 day moving average is $197.43. The stock has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $243.91.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.