Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 1.2% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,513,551,000 after acquiring an additional 15,187 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Linde by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,365,647,000 after acquiring an additional 218,746 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,374,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,775 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,993,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $874,908,000 after purchasing an additional 160,355 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,953,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,730,000 after purchasing an additional 23,155 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $448.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.59 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.94. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $469.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.00. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

Linde 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.