Quantbot Technologies LP Invests $507,000 in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

LIN stock opened at $458.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $466.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $454.94. The company has a market capitalization of $218.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given 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 is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is 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.