CW Advisors LLC Has $3.02 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 39.3%, now holding shares valued at $3.02 million after buying an additional 4,500 shares.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings of $2.60 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates, along with a 6.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.09 billion.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, equating to an annual yield of 1.2%, payable on October 15th.

CW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 39.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,952 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $100,384,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 123.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,904 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $638,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $245.25 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $246.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.56. The company has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 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.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $231.40.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LECO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.