Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Purchased by Robotti Robert

Robotti Robert boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Electric comprises about 2.0% of Robotti Robert’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Robotti Robert’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $10,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 216.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 53,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,184,000 after purchasing an additional 36,878 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 20.1% during the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,131,000 after acquiring an additional 3,658 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 195.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 223,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,187,000 after acquiring an additional 147,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 1.1%

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $236.81 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $233.88 and its 200-day moving average is $226.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $285.00 price target on Lincoln Electric and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total transaction of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.