Linde PLC $LIN Shares Newly Acquired by Compass Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Compass Capital Management acquired 106,311 Linde shares in the third quarter, worth about $50.5 million. The position represents roughly 3.2% of its portfolio.
• Linde beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $4.59 and revenue of $9.40 billion; revenue rose 9.3% year over year.
• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $553.05 average price target. Linde also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equivalent to a 1.2% yield.

Compass Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 106,311 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $50,461,000. Linde accounts for about 3.2% of Compass Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings 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 period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its stake in Linde by 96.6% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.7%

LIN opened at $526.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $490.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $496.20. The company has a market cap of $241.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,442,546.93. This represents a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho set a $583.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $553.05.

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.

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