KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $2.48 Million Investment in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,483,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,527,000 after acquiring an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,549 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $231,345,000 after purchasing an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 65,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 555,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,203,000 after purchasing an additional 13,134 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 505,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,804,000 after purchasing an additional 23,327 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 brokerages have issued reports on LECO. Barclays lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 0.5 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $197.26 on Thursday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $169.51 and a one year high of $258.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $198.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.45. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.