BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Takes $530,000 Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,826 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $7.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $176.20. The stock had a trading volume of 888,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,317. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $188.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $238.47. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

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.