Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Buys 9,068 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Linde PLC by 27.4%, now holding 42,191 shares valued at approximately $19.65 million.
• Linde reported an EPS of $3.95 for the last quarter, slightly above analysts' expectations, with revenue totaling $8.11 billion.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.50 on September 18th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 43.57%.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,191 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,068 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Linde were worth $19,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Linde by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,062,085,000 after acquiring an additional 500,489 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Linde by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,598,737,000 after acquiring an additional 265,455 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $468.41. 635,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,115,041. The company has a market capitalization of $220.49 billion, a PE ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $458.15. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. Linde's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.67%.

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.