Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Stock Position Lifted by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 77.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.2% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 553 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Lincoln Electric during the first quarter valued at about $195,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.18, for a total value of $726,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 19,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,643,317.14. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,692 shares of company stock valued at $5,745,148 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $236.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $239.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.63. The company has a market cap of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.11 and a 1 year high of $249.19.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Roth Capital started coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, September 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $236.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.33.

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.