Robotti Robert Invests $8.90 Million in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Robotti Robert purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 33,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,898,000. Lincoln Electric accounts for approximately 1.4% of Robotti Robert’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $656,165,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $956,360,000 after buying an additional 3,824,077 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $415,155,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,175,000 after buying an additional 6,070 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,280,116 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,767,000 after buying an additional 158,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LECO shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $257.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.81, for a total transaction of $232,214.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,560,954.39. This trade represents a 8.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $281.97 on Wednesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.22 and a 12-month high of $310.00. The stock has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $264.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.69.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer and distributor of welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, and surface treatment systems. The company’s portfolio encompasses welding consumables such as electrodes and wires, as well as power sources, torches, and automated welding cells. Lincoln Electric also offers software solutions and training services designed to optimize productivity and quality in fabrication and manufacturing operations.

Founded in 1895 by John C.