1,639,428 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,639,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,344,000. Norges Bank owned 2.91% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $190.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $198.68 and a 200 day moving average of $197.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $255.60.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Company 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.