Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Key Points

• Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC has invested $225,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., acquiring 1,242 shares this quarter.
• Institutional investors now hold 79.61% of Lincoln Electric's stock, reflecting strong interest from multiple hedge funds.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, with an upcoming payment date of October 15th.

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,242 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,541 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings 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 worth $477,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This represents 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 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.84 during trading on Thursday, reaching $243.61. The company had a trading volume of 237,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,123. The stock has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company's fifty day moving average price is $219.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $246.83.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.