World Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $43,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $428.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $460.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.61. 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 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Linde Company 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.