Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $377,000 Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LECO. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 48.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,747,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $518,210,000 after purchasing an additional 891,111 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,097,965 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,831,000 after buying an additional 494,464 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Lincoln Electric by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,462,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $474,527,000 after buying an additional 280,466 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 18,413.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 258,267 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $49,592,000 after buying an additional 256,872 shares during the period. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $24,604,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $194.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.85. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $261.13. The company has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.18.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.