Summit Trail Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.0% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 120,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,812,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Linde by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 437,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $191,892,000 after acquiring an additional 46,494 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in Linde by 90.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 428.7% in the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,299,000 after purchasing an additional 43,055 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $471.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $458.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $449.38. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $479.79. The firm has a market cap of $225.34 billion, a PE ratio of 36.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. 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 earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.57 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.