Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 36.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,692 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Lincoln Electric worth $10,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 acquiring an additional 280,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 61,640 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,050,000 after purchasing an additional 65,154 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,203,000 after purchasing an additional 13,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 505,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,804,000 after purchasing an additional 23,327 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of LECO opened at $194.38 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.95. The company has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

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.