Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Purchased by Millennium Management LLC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings by 195.2%, acquiring an additional 147,483 shares, bringing its total holdings to 223,025 shares valued at approximately $42.19 million.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 6.6% year-over-year revenue increase to $1.09 billion and earnings per share of $2.60, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Lincoln Electric announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $3.00 and a yield of 1.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 195.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 147,483 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.40% of Lincoln Electric worth $42,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $721,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $261,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $211,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 in the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of LECO stock traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.13. The company had a trading volume of 214,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19. The company has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $235.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.50.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report 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 Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

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.