LPL Financial LLC Raises Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has increased its stake in Linde PLC by 13.7%, owning 275,350 shares valued at $128.2 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• In recent trading, Linde stock opened at $467.46, with a market cap of $220.04 billion, and recent earnings per share reported at $3.95, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Analysts have rated Linde positively, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80, while various brokerages have upgraded their ratings on the stock.

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,350 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.06% of Linde worth $128,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $467.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $220.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business's 50 day moving average price is $466.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $456.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

About Linde

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.

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