Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.95% of Lincoln Electric worth $100,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $499,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $121,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,959 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,955,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,352 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered 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 note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $5.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.10. 93,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,979. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business's fifty day moving average is $187.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.10. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.