Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 20.1%, bringing its holdings to 21,841 shares valued at $4.13 million.
• Research firms have upgraded their ratings for Lincoln Electric, with KeyCorp raising the price target from $250 to $280 and Roth Capital initiating coverage with a price objective of $279.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, set to be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized yield of 1.2%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 20.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,841 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,658 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $255,597,000 after acquiring an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in 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 worth $76,715,000 after acquiring an additional 137,330 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 21,166 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 365,987 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $69,230,000 after acquiring an additional 7,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $68,582,000 after acquiring an additional 29,505 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were 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 owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,692 shares of company stock worth $5,511,918 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of LECO stock traded down $3.71 on Friday, hitting $239.13. The stock had a trading volume of 214,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,400. The business has a 50 day moving average of $235.10 and a 200 day moving average of $207.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.33.

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.