Swiss National Bank Acquires 400 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $20,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $190.60 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.97. The company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Barclays increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric 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.