Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 25,615 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,615 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.49% of Lincoln Electric worth $56,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 3,598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 407 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,859 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lincoln Electric news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michele R. Kuhrt sold 4,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.86, for a total value of $793,049.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,079,767.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LECO. UBS Group began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. They set a “sell” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Lincoln Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Lincoln Electric from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $181.86.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

LECO opened at $195.19 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $181.01 and a 200 day moving average of $185.69. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.92 and a 52-week high of $210.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.14.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.13. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 31st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 28th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.98%.

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