Cetera Advisors LLC Has $2.43 Million Holdings in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. TradeLink Capital LLC bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter valued at about $2,523,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Linde by 36.4% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 25.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Linde by 15.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter valued at about $6,682,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $407.88 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $302.17 and a 52-week high of $411.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $381.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $376.69. The firm has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 18.44%. The firm had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 14.11 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a $1.275 dividend. This represents a $5.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 1st. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the business’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 value of $4,825,440.52. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,498,541.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total transaction of $482,599.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,158,796.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $4,825,440.52. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares in the company, valued at $10,498,541.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Linde from $420.00 to $444.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Argus boosted their price target on Linde from $440.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Linde from $418.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Linde from $416.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.50.

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.