Blair William & Co. IL Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new position in 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 & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,414 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.4% in the first quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 5,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $1,251,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $227,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 38.6% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 76,165 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,408,000 after buying an additional 21,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.4% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 7,724 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $242.11 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $246.83. The company has a market cap of $13.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $218.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.05.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric 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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