Drake & Associates LLC Takes $439,000 Position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Drake & Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 51.9% during the first quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 82 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $29,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $387.99 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $262.47 and a 12 month high of $393.67. The stock has a market cap of $189.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $382.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $368.25.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 1st. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 39,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.62, for a total value of $15,545,355.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,747,059.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 39,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.62, for a total value of $15,545,355.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 369,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,747,059.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total transaction of $4,825,440.52. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,498,541.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia 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.