37,771 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Bought by Interval Partners LP

Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 37,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,081,000. Interval Partners LP owned 0.07% of Lincoln Electric as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,050,157,000 after acquiring an additional 18,805 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after purchasing an additional 234,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,691,000 after purchasing an additional 31,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,050,000 after buying an additional 65,154 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $185.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $185.37 and a 200-day moving average of $195.56. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $238.47.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $365.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $974.39 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective 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, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.17.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.