Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Stock Holdings Boosted by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.60 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $247.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $216.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.25.

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.