Millstone Evans Group LLC Buys Shares of 8,246 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,546,000. Lincoln Electric accounts for 1.1% of Millstone Evans Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. This trade represents a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Lincoln Electric stock opened at $192.02 on Friday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.51 and a 12-month high of $258.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $198.31 and its 200-day moving average is $196.92.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $995.94 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend 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.