JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 234,515 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 234,515 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $325,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 8,180 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,771 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the third quarter valued at $499,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $496,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,262 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $190.29 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $255.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $198.68 and a 200 day moving average of $197.86.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was 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 available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.