Oak Thistle LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 26.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,906 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.75.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $192.10 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $201.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $983.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lincoln Electric

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.