Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Purchased by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 348.4% during the second quarter, bringing their total to 5,085 shares valued at approximately $1,054,000.
• Recent insider trades include EVP Gabriel Bruno selling 7,305 shares valued at about $1.77 million, indicating a significant decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Lincoln Electric recently announced a $0.75 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 348.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 51.2% during the 1st 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the 1st 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $68,582,000 after purchasing an additional 29,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 330,822 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $62,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, September 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $279.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. 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 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,140,351.71. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 in the last quarter. 2.41% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $238.62. The stock had a trading volume of 410,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,234. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.10. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19. 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 (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 net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. Lincoln Electric's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 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.