Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 251 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 980.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 279.6% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 619.3% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lincoln Electric from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $285.00 target price on Lincoln Electric and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.23, for a total value of $233,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,351.71. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 12,387 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.36, for a total value of $3,014,500.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,866 shares in the company, valued at $13,595,549.76. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $229.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $161.11 and a one year high of $249.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.08. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.27% and a return on equity of 39.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.83%.

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.