682,428 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Acquired by Boston Partners

Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 682,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,550,000. Boston Partners owned 1.24% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 183,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,969,000 after acquiring an additional 26,885 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at $6,431,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 619.3% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 160.4% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,539 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

NASDAQ LECO opened at $238.84 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.21. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $161.11 and a twelve month high of $249.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total transaction of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,595,549.76. The trade was a 18.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LECO. Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

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.