Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has significantly increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 126.2%, now owning 110,527 shares valued at approximately $20.68 million.
• Analyst ratings are predominantly positive, with firms like Roth Capital initiating coverage with a "buy" rating and price targets ranging from $239.33 to $280.00.
• Lincoln Electric is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 33.71%.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 126.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,670 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Lincoln Electric worth $20,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,211,000 after buying an additional 290,562 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 16.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,548,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 51.2% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 405,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $76,715,000 after buying an additional 137,330 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 576.6% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 78,840 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,913,000 after buying an additional 67,187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.13. The stock had a trading volume of 214,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,400. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average price is $235.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.50. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.Lincoln Electric's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 33.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,511,918 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.