Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Acquired by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 7,962 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $45,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.00.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $213.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $197.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The business’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 33.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.