Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys 47,198 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 47,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,403,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its stake in Linde by 96.6% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 1,450.0% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,629.58. The trade was a 29.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,546.93. This trade represents a 63.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on LIN shares. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Berenberg Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $583.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.05.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $515.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $236.54 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $494.34. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

Linde Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases.

Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, bringing together businesses with long histories in industrial gases and engineering.