Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 88,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,375,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 151.6% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $222.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 199,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,561. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.00 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $245.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $981.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 43.81% and a net margin of 13.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total transaction of $834,202.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on LECO shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $257.00 to $252.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.00.

About Lincoln Electric

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.