Cumberland Partners Ltd Grows Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 81.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 170.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 128.6% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 6,171 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 439.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 739 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Lincoln Electric stock traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $238.00. 146,529 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 273,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $248.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.20. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.21 and a 1 year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.50.

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.