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

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 526.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,624 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring 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 valued at approximately $68,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted 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 valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted 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 valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $222.78. 259,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,714. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $225.25. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $200.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The company's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. KeyCorp lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.40.

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.