Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.86 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,855,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 76.6% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 21,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,950,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $1,224,000. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in Linde by 12.6% in the third quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 45.0% in the third quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 1,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $101,313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $438.81. 2,203,860 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,065,014. Linde plc has a one year low of $358.37 and a one year high of $477.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $435.99 and a 200 day moving average of $433.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $468.83.

Linde Company 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.