Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,767 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after acquiring an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $325,359,000 after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $231,691,000 after acquiring an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 726,112 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $136,124,000 after acquiring an additional 75,651 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.0%

LECO stock traded up $4.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $224.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,665. The company has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G 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 $225.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50-day moving average is $199.73 and its 200-day moving average is $194.36.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.