Atom Investors LP Boosts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Atom Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 51,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $93,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc lifted its position in Linde by 1.2% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 185,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,611,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

Linde stock opened at $460.99 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $467.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.55. The stock has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

About Linde

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.