Cwm LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

CWM LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $3.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $227.72. 246,169 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 346,382. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $227.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.93.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.44% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The company had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

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.