Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN)

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Linde plc (NYSE:LIN) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 384,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,332 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Linde worth $146,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Linde by 2.2% during the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 212,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,944,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Linde by 191.1% during the first quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 5,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,787,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Linde by 17.5% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Linde by 13.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,027,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC lifted its position in Linde by 6.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total value of $482,599.35. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,158,796.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 12,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,498,541.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 1,245 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $387.63, for a total value of $482,599.35. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,158,796.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE LIN traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $411.65. 468,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,752,038. The company has a 50 day moving average of $382.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $377.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $302.17 and a 52-week high of $414.97. The firm has a market cap of $199.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88.

Linde (NYSE:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $3.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 18.44%. The business had revenue of $8.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 14.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be issued a $1.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 1st. This represents a $5.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LIN. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $382.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Linde from $450.00 to $445.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Linde from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $420.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $448.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.50.

Linde Company 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.