Focus Partners Wealth Raises Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 40,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $7,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $195.57 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.57. The company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $233.17.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th 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 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.17.

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.