Fisher Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 5.7% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $467.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $219.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. The trade was a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.