Advisor OS LLC Purchases 86 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Advisor OS LLC grew its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Advisor OS LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,646 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,737 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO opened at $206.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The firm has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. As a group, analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

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.