Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 7,656 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 365,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,656 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.66% of Lincoln Electric worth $69,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 10,990 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $267,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 5,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at $1,251,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at $7,254,903.34. The trade was a 19.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7%

LECO stock opened at $243.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $246.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $201.68.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.