Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $450.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.12. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $214.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’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 owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

About Linde

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.