Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Bought by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH significantly increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2,426.0%, owning 54,259 shares valued at $11.25 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Wall Street analysts have positive forecasts for Lincoln Electric, with several raising their price targets; KeyCorp increased its target to $280.00 and Roth Capital set a buy rating with a target of $279.00.
• Lincoln Electric will raise its quarterly dividend from $0.75 to $0.79, with an ex-dividend date of December 31st, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 2,426.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 54,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 52,111 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.10% of Lincoln Electric worth $11,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake 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 period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,692 shares of company stock worth $5,745,148 over the last three months. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $242.95 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $249.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $239.03 and a 200-day moving average of $215.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

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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