Millennium Management LLC Acquires 147,483 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

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

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $261,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. KeyCorp increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Roth Capital started 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 for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Four 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,511,918 in the last 90 days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $238.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 338,721. The stock has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 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 one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $235.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.51.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.