Vident Advisory LLC Acquires 2,337 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 40.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Members Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.7% during the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the first quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 49.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its stake in Linde by 2.9% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ LIN traded up $8.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $451.39. 323,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,983,201. Linde plc has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $477.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $437.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.63. The stock has a market cap of $216.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. HSBC decreased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $464.25.

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.