Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Boosted by OneAscent Financial Services LLC

OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $3,066,825,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,672,000 after purchasing an additional 468,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 33,201.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 411,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,189,000 after purchasing an additional 410,705 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $171,607,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Linde by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,282,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $526,743,000 after buying an additional 347,531 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $438.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,470,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,077. The company has a market capitalization of $210.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $358.37 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $433.86.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $468.83.

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.