Raymond James Trust N.A. Buys 88 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $454.78 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $216.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $468.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.32.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.