Linde PLC $LIN Shares Newly Bought by CenterBook Partners LP

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners initiated a $17.29 million position in Linde during the third quarter, buying 36,426 shares; Linde represents 0.8% of the fund’s holdings.
• Linde reported quarterly EPS of $4.59, beating the $4.52 consensus, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year to $9.40 billion.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $553.05. Linde also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,426 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $17,290,000. Linde accounts for 0.8% of CenterBook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 86,833 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.91, for a total value of $4,851,808.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,487,629.58. This represents a 29.69% decrease in their position. 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 Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $5.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $515.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,394,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,647. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock's 50-day moving average is $486.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.21 earnings per share. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus cut their price target on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $553.05.

Linde 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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