Austin Wealth Management LLC Invests $214,000 in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Austin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $14.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $458.54. 336,368 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,741. The stock has a market cap of $218.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $473.15 and its 200 day moving average is $451.70. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $376.70 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.