Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.06% of Lincoln Electric worth $6,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LECO shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $238.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $246.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $217.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.76.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.