BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Has $4.50 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $4,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 216.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,184,000 after purchasing an additional 36,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 20.1% in the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after buying an additional 3,658 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,187,000 after buying an additional 147,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Zacks Research cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price target on shares of Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $239.43 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $233.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.04. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $249.19. The firm has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.