XTX Topco Ltd Invests $694,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,613 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Elios Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $999,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at about $834,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,042,000. Finally, 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 worth $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,642 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7 %

LECO traded down $1.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $207.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 221,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 314,311. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $204.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.16.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.17.

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.