Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Linde PLC by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, owning a total of 10,589 shares valued at approximately $4.93 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Linde, with Citigroup raising its target price from $500 to $535 and issuing a "buy" rating, while Royal Bank of Canada issued an "outperform" rating with a price objective of $576.
• Linde recently reported a quarterly EPS of $4.09, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $8.50 billion, marking a 2.3% year-over-year increase.

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,589 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $4,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its position in Linde by 2.8% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 3.0% in the first quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $2.85 on Tuesday, reaching $473.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,347,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,364. The stock has a market cap of $221.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $467.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.22.

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. Equities research analysts expect 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 issued 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 payout ratio is 42.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.