Moran Wealth Management LLC Buys 89 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after purchasing an additional 494,464 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $92,117,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,284,000 after acquiring an additional 147,239 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $197.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.16. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

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.