Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 221.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 721 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,652,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 121,696 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,368,000 after purchasing an additional 38,368 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 11.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 237,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,962 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of LECO stock opened at $197.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.51 and a 12 month high of $258.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.30.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $995.94 million. On average, research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LECO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp boosted 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, Barclays raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.60.

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.