Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes $5.62 Million Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 29,995 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Lincoln Electric at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 9.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 40,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,838,000 after purchasing an additional 11,490 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 7,184.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 30,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,964,000 after purchasing an additional 30,536 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,326 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $200.31 on Tuesday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.81%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other Lincoln Electric news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total transaction of $4,536,505.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares in the company, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.