Point72 Asset Management L.P. Makes New $3.37 Million Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $3,368,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $496,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 358,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $67,176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.5%

LECO stock traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.52. 267,957 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 331,589. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $222.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.54.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.17.

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.