Sharkey Howes & Javer Purchases New Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Sharkey Howes & Javer acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 194.4% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 26,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,673,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO traded down $3.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $199.80. 89,706 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,008. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $189.19 and a 200 day moving average of $201.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.00 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 31.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.