1,416 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Purchased by Compound Planning Inc.

Key Points

• Compound Planning Inc. acquired 1,416 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, valued at approximately $268,000, signaling new interest from investors in the industrial products company.
• Lincoln Electric reported a better-than-expected earnings per share of $2.60, exceeding estimates by $0.28, alongside a revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.2%, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,416 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15,932.5% during 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,211,000 after buying an additional 290,562 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,548,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 405,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $76,715,000 after buying an additional 137,330 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $247.76 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $227.06 and its 200-day moving average is $204.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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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