61,991 Shares in Linde PLC $LIN Purchased by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management initiated a position in Linde, buying 61,991 shares worth about $29.4 million; institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.8% of the stock.
• Linde beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $4.59 versus $4.52 expected and revenue of $9.40 billion, up 9.3% year over year.
• Analysts give Linde a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $553.05 target price. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equivalent to a 1.2% annualized yield.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 61,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $29,424,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 12.9% during the second quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Linde by 74.2% in the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Towercrest Capital Management increased its stake in Linde by 2.8% in the third quarter. Towercrest Capital Management now owns 918 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC lifted its position in Linde by 55.6% during the third quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 70 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 3.7% during the first quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 724 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total transaction 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 approximately $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Barclays raised their price target on Linde from $577.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $553.05.

Linde Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of LIN opened at $521.78 on Wednesday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $487.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

Linde 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.

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