Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 8,624 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 526.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 8,624 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 517 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $220.48. 284,907 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,598. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business's 50-day moving average price is $198.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $222.52.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.99%.

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.