Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.78 Million Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 38.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,820 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 8,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,956,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.8% in the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 6,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 98.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $241.00 to $238.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.00.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $222.93 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.00 and a 12 month high of $261.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $245.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 43.81%. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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.

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.