Kowal Investment Group LLC Acquires Shares of 442 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kowal Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 49.0% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Linde Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $486.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $468.84 and a 200 day moving average of $450.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $361.02 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

About Linde

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.