16,128 Shares in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) Purchased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,128 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,042,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,856,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $474,129,000 after purchasing an additional 121,914 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the second quarter valued at about $12,627,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at about $11,888,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 7.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 525,647 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,155,000 after buying an additional 38,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 75.9% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 86,772 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,165,000 after buying an additional 37,442 shares in the last quarter. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LECO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $192.02 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.00 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.15%.

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.