Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $4.65 Million Stock Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services Inc. has increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 16%, acquiring an additional 1,376 shares, bringing its total to 9,985 shares valued at approximately $4.65 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their positions, resulting in institutional ownership of 82.80% of Linde's stock, indicating strong interest from the financial community.
• Linde received multiple analyst upgrades, with Citigroup raising its price target from $500.00 to $535.00 and an overall average price target now set at $518.80, reflecting positive market sentiment.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $4,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Clarendon Private LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.2% in the first quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 2,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the first quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 12,346 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 15.1% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

Linde Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ LIN traded down $2.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $457.94. 1,381,896 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,122,465. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $457.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $215.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

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.