Robotti Robert Boosts Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Robotti Robert grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Lincoln Electric accounts for approximately 1.7% of Robotti Robert’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Robotti Robert owned approximately 0.09% of Lincoln Electric worth $9,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,117,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 worth $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% during 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 buying an additional 147,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value 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. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LECO opened at $197.26 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $258.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $198.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Two 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.