Geode Capital Management LLC Has $231.69 Million Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $231,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $172.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.29 and a fifty-two week high of $250.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $197.46 and a 200-day moving average of $197.90. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned 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 price target of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.