Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lessened by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance lowered its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $471.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $361.02 and a 12-month high of $479.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $456.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $449.00. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

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.