BDF Gestion Invests $4.83 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,827,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 49.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $447.02. 1,108,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,975,669. The company has a 50 day moving average of $440.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $440.54. The firm has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.57 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.18.

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.