Larson Financial Group LLC Acquires 281 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 98.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 151.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $227.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $249.06 and its 200 day moving average is $219.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.21 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The stock has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

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.