Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Increases Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 137.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 242,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 139,881 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.05% of Linde worth $115,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,319,000 after buying an additional 4,479 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,616,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,457,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.2% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,611,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $456.60 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $217.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $467.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.