GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $551,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.3 %

LECO opened at $194.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.57. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.00 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 42.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.33.

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.