Greenleaf Trust Purchases 386 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 386 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LIN traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $480.30. The stock had a trading volume of 96,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,575. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $229.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $471.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.80. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $362.33 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.