Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 365,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,656 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $69,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.2% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 36.1% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total transaction of $726,540.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gabriel Bruno sold 7,305 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.42, for a total value of $1,770,878.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 29,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,254,903.34. This trade represents a 19.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.40.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $243.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $219.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.68. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $161.11 and a 52 week high of $246.83. The company has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.79% and a net margin of 12.27%. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.