Greenleaf Trust Purchases 71 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after buying an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,129,000 after acquiring an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 204.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 138,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,095,000 after acquiring an additional 92,820 shares in the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,617,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,627,000. 79.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $193.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.14. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.63 and a 1-year high of $261.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 32.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LECO. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

About Lincoln Electric

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.