Voleon Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Voleon Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 147.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,510 shares during the quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LECO. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22,146.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 291,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,211,000 after buying an additional 290,562 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 16.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,351,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,597,000 after buying an additional 188,104 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $28,548,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 51.2% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 405,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,715,000 after buying an additional 137,330 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $243.24 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $232.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.57. The firm has a market cap of $13.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Roth Capital began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.33.

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.