Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Buys New Shares in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV made a new investment in Linde PLC, acquiring 558 shares valued at approximately $260,000.
• Several institutional investors, including the Treasurer of the State of North Carolina and Sterling Capital Management LLC, have also increased their stakes in Linde, with institutional ownership now at 82.80%.
• Linde recently reported earnings of $4.09 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a yield of 1.3%.

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV acquired a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 558 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.5% in the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its position in Linde by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,883,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 20.2% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $472.42. The company had a trading volume of 939,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,921. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $467.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.56. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.