Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 682 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 58.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,842 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 682 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 54.3% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 21,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,604,000 after buying an additional 7,718 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 62.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 65,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,442,000 after purchasing an additional 25,082 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2,984.6% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 439,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $95,479,000 after purchasing an additional 424,831 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 21.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 45,409 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,593,000 after purchasing an additional 7,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 126,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,525,000 after purchasing an additional 27,989 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $178.79 on Monday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.00 and a twelve month high of $261.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $193.25 and its 200 day moving average is $212.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is currently 30.15%.

Insider Transactions at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value of $193,556.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LECO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.29.

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.