New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 12,407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 221.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 47,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,088,000 after purchasing an additional 8,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $190.29 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $255.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.