Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Buys 173 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Linde by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $465.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $453.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.35. The stock has a market cap of $223.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $479.79.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s 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 approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% 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.