Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Linde PLC by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 8,292 shares, bringing its total holdings to 61,197 shares valued at approximately $28.5 million.
• Linde reported earnings of $3.95 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 0.1%, totaling $8.11 billion.
• Research firms have shown strong confidence in Linde as multiple analysts upgraded their ratings, with a consensus price target now at $518.80 and several firms giving the stock a buy or strong-buy rating.

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,292 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Linde were worth $28,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 6.2% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 34,236 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $15,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $4,852,000. One Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 20.2% in the first quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 12.1% in the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,271 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 13.4% in the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 1,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $463.54. The stock had a trading volume of 517,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,115,605. The business's 50 day moving average is $467.12 and its 200-day moving average is $457.06. The company has a market cap of $218.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Linde Company 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.