9,703 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Key Points

• Brighton Jones LLC initiated a position in Linde, buying 9,703 shares worth approximately $4.6 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 82.8% of the company’s stock.
• Linde reported quarterly earnings of $4.59 per share, topping the $4.52 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $9.40 billion.
• Analysts’ average rating is “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $553.05. Linde also announced a $1.60 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 1.2% annualized yield.

Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,605,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Linde by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,558,016,000 after purchasing an additional 719,052 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Linde by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Linde by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,358,712,000 after purchasing an additional 64,078 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Linde by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Linde by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 28th. DZ Bank restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $553.05.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $515.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.34. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20. The company 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.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, 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 transaction of $4,851,808.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,487,629.58. This trade represents a 29.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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