Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Bought by Martingale Asset Management L P

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P has significantly increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. by 194.5%, now owning 5,468 shares valued at over $1 million.
• Lincoln Electric recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.60, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.75 per share due on October 15th.
• Institutional investors collectively own 79.61% of Lincoln Electric, highlighting significant interest from the financial community.

Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 194.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,468 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,611 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 535,434 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $100,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 508,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $95,363,000 after acquiring an additional 115,813 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 137,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 393,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,823,000 after buying an additional 21,166 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $231.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of LECO traded down $4.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $240.96. The company had a trading volume of 97,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,154. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $227.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.97.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.