Interval Partners LP Invests $7.08 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 37,771 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $7,081,000. Interval Partners LP owned approximately 0.07% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $197.92. The stock had a trading volume of 480,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,306. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.57. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $232.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.17.

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.