Nuveen LLC Invests $28.55 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 150,920 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $28,548,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.27% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 36.1% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric 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 transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $7.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.65. 25,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,945. The business's 50-day moving average price is $223.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.12. The company has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $246.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.