Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,957 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $17,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $847,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $7,498,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $1,875,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $4,034,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $2,187,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank cut their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Linde from $549.00 to $568.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.05.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $526.06 on Friday. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $241.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $490.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $496.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. This trade represents a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. 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. Company 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.