Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Purchases 229 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $12,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 21.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 9.1% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $49,592,000 after purchasing an additional 256,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $211.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $194.92 and a 200 day moving average of $196.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

About Lincoln Electric

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.