Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 19.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,616,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc grew its holdings in Linde by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $460.99 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $467.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.