Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Purchases 109,872 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management sharply increased its stake in Lincoln Electric, buying 109,872 additional shares in the first quarter and lifting its holdings to 118,227 shares worth about $29.45 million.
• Lincoln Electric beat Wall Street expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting EPS of $2.50 versus $2.42 expected and revenue of $1.12 billion, up 11.7% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on LECO: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $299, while recent calls ranged from bullish buy ratings to Morgan Stanley’s underweight view.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 1,315.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,227 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,872 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.22% of Lincoln Electric worth $29,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,000. United Community Bank bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on LECO shares. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $299.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $265.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $14.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.36 and a twelve month high of $310.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 10.82 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.61%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total value of $232,214.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at $2,560,954.39. This trade represents a 8.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: LECO is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company's portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.

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