Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Purchased by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,692 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,601,734 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,050,157,000 after purchasing an additional 18,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $325,359,000 after buying an additional 234,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $307,344,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lincoln Electric by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,235,582 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,691,000 after acquiring an additional 31,033 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,163,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,050,000 after acquiring an additional 65,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $180.10 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $194.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.11. The company has a market cap of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.11 and a 12-month high of $242.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $178.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.00.

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.