Cornerstone Advisors LLC Has $7.11 Million Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 26.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 1.4 %

Linde stock opened at $450.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $469.10 and a 200-day moving average of $453.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during 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%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

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.