Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Stock Holdings Increased by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 52.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 553.4% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 362,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,582,000 after acquiring an additional 29,505 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 137,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,017,000 after acquiring an additional 10,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LECO shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $297.00 price target (up from $285.00) on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $300.00 to $264.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $310.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.14.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $254.40 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.84 and a 12 month high of $310.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $13.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.91.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 33.91%.

About Lincoln Electric

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.