Global Retirement Partners LLC Increases Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 266.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after purchasing an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,345,000 after buying an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 81.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 328,743 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,629,000 after buying an additional 6,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,284,000 after acquiring an additional 147,239 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $207.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $195.27 and a 200-day moving average of $196.66. The stock has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

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.