22,009 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Acquired by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 22,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,489,000. Linde comprises 0.6% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde 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 transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

Linde stock opened at $454.78 on Monday. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $468.54 and a 200 day moving average of $453.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Linde Company 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.