Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 26th, 2023

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO – Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,954,544 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $748,605,000 after buying an additional 63,007 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,289,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $894,478,000 after buying an additional 15,200 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,958,667 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $373,594,000 after purchasing an additional 59,991 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 935,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,137,000 after purchasing an additional 204,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 757,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $128,108,000 after purchasing an additional 114,619 shares in the last quarter. 75.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO opened at $164.48 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $182.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.11. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $136.00 and a fifty-two week high of $210.86. The firm has a market cap of $9.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.04% and a return on equity of 46.60%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.18 earnings per share. Lincoln Electric’s revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 31st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 28th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. This is a positive change from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $176.00 to $211.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.57.

View Our Latest Report on Lincoln Electric

Insider Activity

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

Lincoln Electric Profile

(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.