Mizuho Bank Ltd. Buys Shares of 160 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Lincoln Electric by 255.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lincoln Electric by 54.1% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Lincoln Electric by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Lincoln Electric by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 79.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Lincoln Electric

In related news, CEO Steven B. Hedlund sold 21,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.47, for a total value of $4,536,505.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,777,590.20. The trade was a 27.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Lincoln Electric Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LECO opened at $172.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $197.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.81. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.29 and a 1 year high of $250.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.94 million. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 11.63%. On average, analysts forecast that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lincoln Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 36.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Lincoln Electric from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lincoln Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.60.

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.