Townsquare Capital LLC Has $2.75 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 16.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after buying an additional 18,805 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,691,000 after buying an additional 31,033 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ LECO opened at $180.10 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $161.11 and a 1-year high of $242.65. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $194.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.11. 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 (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 at this hyperlink. 2.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.