Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 32,993 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.41% of Lincoln Electric worth $43,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 40,607 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,613,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 331.6% in the 4th quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 11,653 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 8,953 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,159 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 10,623 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,436,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of LECO traded down $2.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $200.95. The stock had a trading volume of 58,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $185.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.63. The company has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $229.00.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors 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 yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

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.