Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 505,701 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,327 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $94,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,831,000 after acquiring an additional 494,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 268,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,284,000 after acquiring an additional 147,239 shares during the period. 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 worth $231,345,000 after acquiring an additional 61,640 shares during the period. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,029,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, 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 through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $206.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $196.24 and its 200-day moving average is $196.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.63% and a return on equity of 40.19%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal 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 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

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.