8,821 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Acquired by Natixis

Natixis purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,821 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,654,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.00.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $184.18. 55,539 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,552. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $238.47. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $190.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.51.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $995.94 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given 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 1.63%. Lincoln Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.