Wealthspire Advisors LLC Takes $264,000 Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.2 %

LECO stock opened at $205.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $195.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.79. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

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.