Welch & Forbes LLC Has $40.01 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,002 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,570 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC owned 0.32% of Lincoln Electric worth $40,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $131,179,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $112,705,000 after acquiring an additional 58,254 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $86,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $78,642,000 after purchasing an additional 8,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LECO. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $228.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO traded up $4.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $227.25. 198,203 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 285,941. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $245.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.15%.

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.

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