Boston Trust Walden Corp Buys 2,079 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.59% of Lincoln Electric worth $62,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,691,000 after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $201.08 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $190.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.78. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $222.52. The stock has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.40.

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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