Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 32.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,771 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in 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 during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after acquiring an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $499,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $197.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $258.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $198.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.30.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.