Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 97,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,321 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $46,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $469.75 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $361.02 and a 1 year high of $483.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.95.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

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.