Modern Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.48 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,480,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LECO. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $196.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, 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 quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $198.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.45. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.51 and a 52-week high of $258.62.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

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.