Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 255.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LECO shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $242.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.17.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $201.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $161.11 and a 52-week high of $229.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $185.56 and its 200 day moving average is $195.63.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.