Voleon Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 3,067 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,067 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company's stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded up $5.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $183.50. The company had a trading volume of 415,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,084. 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 $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day moving average is $187.29 and its 200-day moving average is $196.04. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $238.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on 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 dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.