Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 8.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,287,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,187,106,000 after buying an additional 2,768,390 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,984,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,103,185,000 after buying an additional 372,780 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 2.4% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,066,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,644,351,000 after buying an additional 303,502 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 1.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,335,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,313,068,000 after purchasing an additional 102,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Linde by 33.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,056,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,218,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $400.00 to $418.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $404.41.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.53, for a total transaction of $4,825,440.52. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 27,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total transaction of $482,599.35. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,158,796.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,424 shares of company stock worth $20,853,396. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $387.35. 191,427 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,821,908. The company has a market capitalization of $189.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 2.64 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $382.50 and its 200 day moving average is $368.38. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $262.47 and a 1 year high of $393.67.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.70 billion. Linde had a net margin of 17.20% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Linde’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 14.03 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.275 per share. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 1st. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 44.50%.

About Linde

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.