Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 56,048 Shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 100.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 56,048 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.19% of Lincoln Electric worth $9,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric during the 1st quarter worth $80,954,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 24.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,019,394 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $277,338,000 after purchasing an additional 793,135 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 147.3% during the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 598,182 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,275,000 after purchasing an additional 356,324 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 34,326.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 140,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,810,000 after purchasing an additional 140,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lincoln Electric by 14.9% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 793,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,879,000 after purchasing an additional 102,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.58% of the company’s stock.

In other Lincoln Electric news, EVP Michele R. Kuhrt sold 5,000 shares of Lincoln Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.64, for a total transaction of $488,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,156,350.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Geoffrey P. Allman sold 4,435 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.36, for a total value of $436,226.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,663.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,845 shares of company stock valued at $1,625,413. Corporate insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ:LECO opened at $94.70 on Friday. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.29 and a 52-week high of $99.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.30 and a 200 day moving average of $83.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The industrial products company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.45. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 33.45% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $590.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 24.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 29th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is presently 41.70%.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LECO. BidaskClub lowered shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. TheStreet upgraded Lincoln Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Lincoln Electric from $94.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.20.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells welding, cutting, and brazing products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Americas Welding, International Welding, and The Harris Products Group. The company offers welding products, including arc welding power sources, plasma cutters, wire feeding systems, robotic welding packages, integrated automation systems, fume extraction equipment, consumable electrodes, fluxes and welding accessories, and specialty welding consumables and fabrication products.

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