AlphaQuest LLC Purchases New Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC recently acquired 9,822 shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO), valued at approximately $1,858,000, during the first quarter.
• Insider transactions were noted, with EVP Gabriel Bruno selling 7,305 shares and EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry selling 3,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their respective holdings.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.2%, with payment scheduled for October 15th to shareholders of record on September 30th.

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,858,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake 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 worth $607,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake 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 grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,521 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp upped 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $231.40.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,254,903.34. This represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.41% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $247.76. The company had a trading volume of 241,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 344,851. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $249.19. The firm has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $226.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.31. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.