Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Position Raised by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,889 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 7,105 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC owned about 0.38% of Lincoln Electric worth $39,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $211.40.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.4%

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $221.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 203,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,265. The firm's 50 day moving average is $205.19 and its 200 day moving average is $195.92. The company has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $225.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The firm's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

About Lincoln Electric

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.