Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Purchases New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,056,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.56 on Monday, reaching $201.45. The stock had a trading volume of 368,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,530. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $185.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.63. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 currently 36.99%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.17.

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.