Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys New Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,539,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 60.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

LECO opened at $207.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.66. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.51 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.