Entropy Technologies LP Purchases 1,100 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 31.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 174.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Lincoln Electric by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 283 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 308.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on LECO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Lincoln Electric from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $212.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.67.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $210.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $193.08 and its 200 day moving average is $197.56. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.51 and a 52 week high of $261.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.85.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.09. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 40.03%. The company had revenue of $983.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $988.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Lincoln Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.89%.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.