CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Sells 147 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 147 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Linde by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Linde by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 70,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,581,000 after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 495,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $236,162,000 after acquiring an additional 57,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 26.3% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 14,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $453.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $468.82 and a 200 day moving average of $453.12. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho raised 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.