Financial Counselors Inc. Buys 60 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.99 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. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $467.20 and its 200-day moving average is $454.23.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research 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, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

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.