Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $500,000 Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,796,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,434,406,000 after buying an additional 141,322 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,897,000. Cloverfields Capital Group LP bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $718,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Linde by 46.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,593,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.6 %

LIN opened at $471.91 on Friday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $479.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.61, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $458.07 and its 200 day moving average is $449.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.