GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases Shares of 1,020 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 98.3% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth $2,110,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $227.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.21 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $249.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. The business had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

Lincoln Electric 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.