Centiva Capital LP Has $1.99 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Centiva Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,623 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,172 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,436,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 336,682 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $63,118,000 after purchasing an additional 334,582 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,937,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of LECO traded up $8.92 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $194.80. 150,618 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 330,391. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $238.47. The stock has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $185.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during 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 firm's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.