Avior Wealth Management LLC Purchases 141 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,008 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Lincoln Electric by 1,422.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 166 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 81.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 151.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on Lincoln Electric from $232.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Lincoln Electric from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lincoln Electric from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total transaction of $3,178,719.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,554,575.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Gabriel Bruno sold 12,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.95, for a total value of $3,178,719.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,402 shares in the company, valued at $5,554,575.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 3,306 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.33, for a total value of $834,202.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,308,819.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Price Performance

Shares of LECO opened at $236.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.38. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.21 and a 1-year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 45.09%. Lincoln Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

About Lincoln Electric

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.