Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires Shares of 13,223 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total value of $232,214.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,560,954.39. This represents a 8.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LECO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on Lincoln Electric in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $282.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $266.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.03. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.22 and a 1 year high of $310.00.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.