Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,874 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 60.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO stock opened at $194.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.51 and a 1 year high of $261.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.06.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $988.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LECO. StockNews.com upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $195.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.75.

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.