Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,536 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,580 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,771 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 54,934 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,298,000 after purchasing an additional 14,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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 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.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.3 %

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $4.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $190.29. The company had a trading volume of 277,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,381. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $198.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $258.55.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio 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.