Two Sigma Securities LLC Invests $680,000 in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,626 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,062,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $92,117,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $50,284,000 after acquiring an additional 147,239 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.2 %

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $178.36. 200,746 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 328,849. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $238.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $365.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $216.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. Company 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.