West Family Investments Inc. Makes New $270,000 Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $656,165,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,077 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,135,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 596,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,691,000 after acquiring an additional 486,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total transaction of $232,214.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,560,954.39. This trade represents a 8.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of LECO opened at $281.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $266.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.97. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 12.35%.The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Profile

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.