Linde PLC $LIN Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Holdings

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Linde were worth $13,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Linde by 13.7% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,928,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $764,000. NBH Bank raised its position in Linde by 46.6% in the third quarter. NBH Bank now owns 799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $452,000. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.3% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $526.55 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The stock has a market cap of $241.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $488.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Linde’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Linde 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 directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $549.00 to $568.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.05.

About Linde

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.