Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 494,464 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.95% of Lincoln Electric worth $210,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 2,642 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 22.1% during the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 8,300 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 2,360 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 40,929 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $385,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $3.74 on Tuesday, reaching $214.54. 159,569 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 319,537. The stock has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.47. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 35.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $221.67.

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.