BDF Gestion Buys 2,500 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

BDF Gestion increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in Linde by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $373,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded up $2.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $479.99. 790,835 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,839,258. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $466.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $483.36.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup raised their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.