1,610 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN Acquired by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

Linde Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $522.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $489.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $495.84. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $239.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.16 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company 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.