Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Holdings in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. $LECO

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Lincoln Electric by 24,685.8% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839,568 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $956,360,000 after buying an additional 3,824,077 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lincoln Electric during the 4th quarter worth $415,155,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lincoln Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,306,641 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,175,000 after purchasing an additional 6,070 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Lincoln Electric by 72.1% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 800,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $199,395,000 after purchasing an additional 335,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lincoln Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $146,135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on LECO. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Lincoln Electric in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Lincoln Electric in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $340.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lincoln Electric from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Lincoln Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Lincoln Electric from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $257.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.22.

Lincoln Electric Stock Performance

Shares of LECO traded up $2.60 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $259.80. The stock had a trading volume of 124,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,812. Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.22 and a fifty-two week high of $310.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.38.

Lincoln Electric (NASDAQ:LECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.12. Lincoln Electric had a net margin of 12.35% and a return on equity of 39.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Lincoln Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Lincoln Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.57%.

Lincoln Electric Profile

Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: LECO) is a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of welding, cutting and automation products. Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the company serves industrial, construction, energy, transportation and other end markets that use fabrication and joining technologies.

Its product portfolio includes arc-welding machines, welding consumables such as electrodes and wire, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment, robotic welding systems, and related automation solutions.