Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,580 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,595 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $2,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181,094 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,381,000 after purchasing an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,377,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 217.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 66,373 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,433,000 after purchasing an additional 45,464 shares during the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after purchasing an additional 6,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,704,000. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LECO. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $208.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.25.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LECO opened at $238.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.24. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.21 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.20.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.09% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,308,819.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lincoln Electric news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.