Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $750,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $92,117,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,118,000 after buying an additional 334,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $325,359,000 after buying an additional 234,515 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $202.28. 59,275 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 333,462. The stock has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $229.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.63.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.