Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 1,330 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.19% of Lincoln Electric worth $22,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 619.3% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.7% in the second quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 601 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $238.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.89 and a 200 day moving average of $225.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.11 and a 12 month high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.79 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research cut Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.00.

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.