1,648 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Bought by Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,648 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,378 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,851,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 17.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of LECO traded up $3.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $227.72. 246,169 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 378,047. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.93. The firm has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $227.80.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.