120,990 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Purchased by Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 120,990 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $23,233,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 0.21% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $220.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $207.07. 248,877 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 317,972. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.02 and a 200-day moving average of $197.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 33.89%.

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.