Congress Asset Management Co. Acquires 13,279 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,050 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,279 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.13% of Lincoln Electric worth $13,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 2,870 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $201.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $222.52. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.34.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

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.

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