Trexquant Investment LP Buys Shares of 7,508 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,508 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,408,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $969,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $241,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 44.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,032 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,863 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth about $694,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO traded up $4.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.13. The stock had a trading volume of 226,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,371. The company has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $194.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.11 and a fifty-two week high of $243.04.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.