Blue Trust Inc. Buys 3,265 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 60.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,265 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth about $230,000. &PARTNERS raised its stake in Linde by 202.1% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 2,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $486.45 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $469.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.57 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

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.