Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 32,449 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,940 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 82,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,772,000 after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO opened at $241.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $211.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.81. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $244.30.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.40.

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.