Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 4,580 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,536 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 4,580 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $3,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 221.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 121,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,368,000 after buying an additional 38,368 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 11.4% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,688,000 after buying an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $197.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.51 and a twelve month high of $258.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.30.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

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

Lincoln Electric 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.