JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 234,515 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 3.08% of Lincoln Electric worth $325,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LECO. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 14.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,652,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 47,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,088,000 after purchasing an additional 8,819 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $190.29 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.51 and a 1-year high of $255.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $198.68 and a 200 day moving average of $197.86. 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.

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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

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.