Northern Trust Corp Buys 115,813 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 508,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,813 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.90% of Lincoln Electric worth $95,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related 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 transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $185.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 287,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,062. The stock has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $238.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $185.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $216.17.

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.