4,031 Linde PLC $LIN Shares Purchased by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services increased its Linde stake by 16.6% in the third quarter, buying 4,031 shares to hold 28,263 shares valued at $13.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.8% of the stock.
• Analysts give Linde a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $553.05; 21 analysts rate it Buy and two rate it Hold.
• Linde beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $4.59 and revenue of $9.40 billion, up 9.3% year over year. It also declared a $1.60 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.2% yield.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,263 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $13,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Claro Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 26.7% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,595,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. QTR Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. QTR Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners increased its position in shares of Linde by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 442 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 18.3% in the third quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price objective on Linde and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $553.05.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total transaction of $45,258,227.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $515.25 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $486.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.16 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.52%.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases.

Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Germany's Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, bringing together businesses with long histories in industrial gases and engineering.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.