Norden Group LLC Invests $5.04 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.7 %

LIN opened at $432.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $208.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $435.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.38. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $358.37 and a twelve month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC lowered their target price on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.83.

Linde 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.