Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 5,570 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 184,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,570 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $40,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 144 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 up $4.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $227.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 198,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,941. The company has a 50-day moving average of $245.06 and a 200-day moving average of $221.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LECO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.00.

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.