Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 76,257 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 76,257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,247,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 553.4% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,582,000 after purchasing an additional 29,505 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 8.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 137,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,017,000 after buying an additional 10,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total transaction of $232,214.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,560,954.39. This represents a 8.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $284.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $216.22 and a twelve month high of $310.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.10.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

About Lincoln Electric

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.