Aristides Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 1,536 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $969,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $241,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,032 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of 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 worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $172.02 on Monday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.71 and a 12-month high of $250.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $197.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

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.