Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Position Boosted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 19.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,049,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,853,000 after purchasing an additional 174,278 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 721,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $131,179,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 10.4% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 619,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,705,000 after acquiring an additional 58,254 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 473,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 361,637 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $239.77 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.21 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $248.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.86. The company has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.31%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

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

Lincoln Electric 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.