XTX Topco Ltd Takes $2.28 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 12,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,275,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 131,378 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,851,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 88.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $180.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $223.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $228.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $209.37 and its 200 day moving average is $198.07.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 11.44%. The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

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.