Farrow Financial Inc. Invests $2.24 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Farrow Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,241,000. Lincoln Electric comprises about 1.7% of Farrow Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,850,000. CM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 25,909.0% during the 4th quarter. CM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178,942 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,040,000 after purchasing an additional 178,254 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,396,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 411.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 191,740 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,856,000 after buying an additional 154,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $228.26. The stock had a trading volume of 259,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,720. The company's fifty day moving average is $241.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on LECO shares. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $228.00.

Lincoln Electric 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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