Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 575 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 1.0 %

Linde stock opened at $449.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $213.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $470.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $452.79. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde 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.