Fermata Advisors LLC Grows Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 17.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 49.0% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $474.04 on Friday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $361.02 and a twelve month high of $483.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $465.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.57 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.