Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 49,827 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 594,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,827 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises 0.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $283,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. This represents a 36.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Down 1.0 %

LIN opened at $449.10 on Friday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $213.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $470.08 and a 200 day moving average of $452.64.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.75.

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.