Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) by 752.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,107 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,921 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $185.87. 287,739 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 331,062. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.56. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $238.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company 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 (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is 36.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.