Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 815 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $168.72 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $250.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LECO. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.