Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of LECO opened at $225.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.00 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.22.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $981.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.86.

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.