Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,631 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.20% of Lincoln Electric worth $29,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Dakota State Investment Board boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 1,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 5.1% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 859 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 1.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 4,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 9.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $276.92 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $216.22 and a one year high of $310.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $267.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $265.93.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.17. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.06% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.38 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $271.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson set a $340.00 price target on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.11.

Lincoln Electric Company Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a global manufacturer of welding, cutting and industrial automation products. The company serves customers in industries including construction, manufacturing, energy, transportation and heavy equipment.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding equipment, welding consumables such as electrodes and welding wire, plasma-cutting systems, welding accessories and personal protective equipment. Lincoln Electric also provides robotic and automated welding systems, industrial automation solutions, application engineering, training and maintenance services.