Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $732,000 Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 123.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,904 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,465 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,654,000. Ostrum Asset Management acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $476,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $530,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LECO traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $184.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 574,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,467. The firm has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $238.47. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $188.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.35.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 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.