Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 60.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,976 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 28,199 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.13% of Lincoln Electric worth $14,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during 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. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 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 the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of LECO traded up $2.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.78. 211,486 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 322,766. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $253.41. 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 simple moving average of $198.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.02. The firm has a market cap of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during 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, research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.