Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $10.07 Million Stock Position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Lincoln Electric were worth $10,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LECO. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 349,203 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $75,938,000 after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Whitehead sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.96, for a total transaction of $193,556.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,880.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO stock opened at $174.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $193.99 and a 200-day moving average of $215.07. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $164.00 and a one year high of $261.13.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.04. Lincoln Electric had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Lincoln Electric’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Lincoln Electric’s payout ratio is 30.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $280.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Lincoln Electric from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 24th. StockNews.com cut Lincoln Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lincoln Electric from $209.00 to $213.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five 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 price target of $218.29.

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, 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.