Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has increased its ownership in Linde PLC by 4.7%, owning over 3.25 million shares valued at approximately $1.51 billion.
• Several institutional investors have acquired significant new stakes in Linde, contributing to 82.80% of the stock being owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Analysts have raised Linde's price targets, with the average target now at $519.63, reflecting positive sentiment with two strong buy ratings and seven buy ratings from research firms.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,252,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 146,841 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.69% of Linde worth $1,514,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was 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 transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LIN. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $2.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $472.42. The stock had a trading volume of 939,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,921. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 3.10 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $467.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.76. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.85 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio 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.