Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 0.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 356,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $68,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LECO. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at $1,125,000. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,858,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $834,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,042,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 15.3% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 19,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 2,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $216.62 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.43.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.03% and a net margin of 11.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 33.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.