South Street Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

South Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $4.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $449.10. 2,417,805 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,836,589. The company’s 50-day moving average is $470.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $213.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. 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. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend 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 Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.