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

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 25th, 2023

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO – Free Report) by 40.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,083 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 732 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the third quarter worth $34,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Lincoln Electric in the first quarter worth $35,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 68.0% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 257 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Vigilant Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the first quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Lincoln Electric from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $176.00 to $211.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lincoln Electric presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LECO

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total transaction of $204,204.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,958.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.64, for a total value of $204,204.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,174,958.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer I. Ansberry sold 8,962 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.27, for a total value of $1,794,819.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,570 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,283.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO opened at $176.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $191.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.69. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.01 and a 12-month high of $210.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.17.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 46.60% and a net margin of 12.04%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Saturday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 31.26%.

About Lincoln Electric

(Free Report)

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, as well as consumables used in the brazing and soldering alloys market.