1,371 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Acquired by Gallacher Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired 1,371 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, valued at approximately $284,000, as part of their new position in the company.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Lincoln Electric, with a price target range of $239.33 to $280.00.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported a 6.6% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $2.60 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,371 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,208 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,183,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,521 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $236.40 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $235.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.72. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,692 shares of company stock worth $5,511,918. 2.41% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.

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