Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $184.00 to $185.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Stock Up 2.5 %

Lincoln Electric stock opened at $203.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $189.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.54. Lincoln Electric has a fifty-two week low of $164.00 and a fifty-two week high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Lincoln Electric will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lincoln Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LECO. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 8,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 2,244 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 11,088 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.8% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 14,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 4.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 4,936 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

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.