Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases New Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 42,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,463,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 44.4% during 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 period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $33,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $471.66 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $479.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.72 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $456.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.18.

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.