Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Boosted by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $35,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.52 on Monday, hitting $460.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,826,315. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $385.12 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $220.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $472.87 and a 200-day moving average of $451.90.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Linde’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS 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. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.