Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $187.00 to $179.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $172.26 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $242.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

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.